


Please Tell Me You're Okay

by wheezybeaver



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Richie Tozier, But hey no Pennywise, Child Abuse, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie is missing, F/M, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, I'm Sorry, M/M, Occasional fluff, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Soulmate au at the end for some reason, The Losers are not okay, The police don't care, eventual happy ending for everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-11 18:46:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15978239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheezybeaver/pseuds/wheezybeaver
Summary: “Richie?” a very exhausted Beverly said.“Bev, call Bill, call-” his voice was cut off by what sounded like something breaking, “Fuck, just call everyone, okay?”“Wait, what’s going on?” Beverly asked, her stomach dropping at how scared Richie sounded.“Eddie’s gone.”Richie gets a mysterious text from Eddie, which is the last thing anyone hears from him before he goes missing.





	1. Bye, Baby

"Benjamin Handsome!" Richie said in awe. He looked down at the cards in his hands, shuffling through them. "Ah, look!" he exclaimed, holding one up to Bill and Beverly. "My baby's in here!" He turned it around to look at the neatly printed name, running his thumb over the indents the pen had made into the index card.  **Eddie** , it read.

"All of us are in there," Ben said, looking quite pleased with himself. "Plus, a whole bunch of inside jokes too."

Richie handed the homemade Hedbandz cards back to Ben, who sat next to him on the couch. Beverly and Bill sat on the love seat, fingers intertwined between them, while Stanley sat in the armchair, flicking through channels on the television. His head was turned to the side slightly, indicating he was listening. They were all sat in the Denbrough family's living room, except for Mike who had just left to go to the bathroom. Bill's parents were out for the weekend, leaving him in charge of the house. Richie had been there for about an hour already.

"Hand 'em over here," Bev said, while reaching her free hand towards Ben. He handed the cards to her, his face blushing when their fingers grazed. Beverly set the cards on the arm of the love seat, picking the first card on the top then setting it in a separate pile, so she could look through them without letting go of Bill's hand. Bill looked over her shoulder and read the cards, a smile appearing on his face.

"We should play it when e-e-everyone gets here," Bill said, his eyes flicking up to Ben.

Bev nodded in agreement, her red locks bouncing just below her shoulders. "These are so cool."

"Thanks, Beverly."

Richie bounced his leg up and down, up and down, wondering when his boyfriend would get there. Earlier that day they had spoken on the phone, Eddie telling him he might be a little late because of his mom. He smiled at the thought of their conversation. Eddie whispered into the phone, quiet little giggles escaping his mouth so not to attract his mother's attention whenever Richie told a joke. He could just imagine him on the other line, a soft blush combined with his freckles spread across his cheeks. His thumb on his free hand tapping his pinky, ring, middle, and then pointer finger, then going back and over again, like he does once and a while when he's shy or nervous. A small smile lifted up at the corners of his mouth while he spoke. Richie reached up with his hand and pushed his large glasses up, which had slowly been falling down his face without him noticing. Eddie would sometimes do that for him. When they first started dating they had just turned fifteen and Eddie would always reach up to adjust Richie's glasses for him, even if one of then were having a conversation.

He thought of Beverly and Bill who had started dating a month prior, and they seemed really happy. But that didn't stop some lingering gazes. Sometimes Richie thought he knew things about his friends, only to be completely wrong. He had always thought Ben and Beverly would get together. Also, he had always had a sneaking suspicion that Stan was hiding something-

"Rich?" Mike sat down next to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Mikey! Is Eddie here yet? I just zoned the fuck out for like ten minutes," Richie said.

Exactly on time, the doorbell rang.

Richie jumped off of the couch, tripping over Mike's feet on the way, and then barreled his way over to the front door.

"Jesus, Richie," Stan mumbled from the living room. He could hear the rest of them chuckling at him as he ripped open the door.

There, on the porch, was Eddie Kaspbrak. He had an AC/DC sweatshirt that his small frame was drowning in, which was definitely Richie's. Every time Richie saw Eddie, he was in awe at how cute he was. How cute could someone possibly be? Not as cute as this boy. Richie reached his arms out in front of him, with a giant smile on his face. "It's Spaghetti Head!"

Eddie rolled his eyes, but he also had a big smile. "Don't call me that!" He lunged himself at Richie, almost knocking him down. 

"Jeez, Eds. You're like a little spider monkey."

"Fuck off, Dick," he mumbled.

Richie grinned and kissed the top of his head sweetly, smelling his strawberry shampoo in the process. "I missed you," he whispered.

"We talked on the phone like an hour ago."

"That's too loooong," he whined.

Eddie pulled away. "That-"

"That's what she said!" Beverly shouted as she walked past them to shut the door. She pushed her sleeves up to her elbows and tugged the two boys into the living room. Eddie by the arm, and Richie by the ear.

"Ow! Marsh, you're gonna rip mah lobe off!" Richie complained loudly.

"You guys are so cute it's gross," she said and then let go of them, to return to her spot beside Bill. 

Richie sat in his spot and tugged his boyfriend down onto his lap. He noticed from across the room Stanley had an unreadable expression on his face, while he stared over at Bev. Stan quickly realized he was being watched and acted like nothing happened. "So, Eddie, Ben made his own set of cards for Hedbandz, and it's got all of our names in it. I bet you five bucks-"

Eddie perked up immediately. "You're on, Loser! Can't wait to win  _another_ five dollars from you."

"We'll see about that, Loser," Stan said with a smile creeping onto his face.

The thing about Eddie was that he was extremely competitive, and everyone thought it was the funniest thing ever. One time when they were playing Sorry! he flipped the game board over, causing a red pawn to go flying and hit Richie square on the forehead. Beverly laughed so hard she nearly passed out. Eddie stormed into the kitchen, followed by an apologetic Bill. It was all in good fun though, after about five minutes Eddie and Bill came back in and they were all giggling about it, laughing even harder when Richie complained that he had gotten brain damage from the pawn hitting his head and Stan replying, "Wait, you don't already have brain damage?"

This time, there were no teams. It was everyone against everyone. They all crawled on the floor, sitting in a circle.

Richie gave a chuckle as Ben went first, his card on his head reading,  **That's what she said** , because of the ongoing war between them on who could say it the most in three months. Bill was keeping score. He typed something into his phone, probably giving another point to Bev from earlier.The rules of Hedbandz were simple, the player had thirty seconds to ask yes or no questions about the card on their head, and if they couldn't get it in that time, the next person went and the original player would have another chance when it got to be their turn again. Whoever had guessed the most right by the end won. Richie looked at everyone's cards. Beverly had  **Ghostbusters!** because of the day when they sang the song over and over again, and it had gotten stuck in their heads for a whole week. They had memorized the whole thing. Bill had  **Stanley** on his card. Stan had  **Boop**   **War** on his because they had a war every once and a while to see who could boop the most noses in a day. It got so extreme one year that they were all banned from a grocery store because they were all running and screaming as they chased each other around the isles. Mike's read,  **Beep beep, Richie**. Richie shook his head and smiled. Finally, Eddie's index card said  **Don't call me** **Eds** , which was too perfect.

"Am I a person?" Ben asked.

"Nope," Mike said.

"Am I a war?"

Richie realized that they had had a lot of wars and were all pretty competitive, not just Eddie. "Bingo."

"Uuuum, is it the prank war?"

"No," Beverly said.

Ben didn't get it in time due to the amount of competitions they had had in the past. It eventually got to be Eddie's turn.

"Am I a person?" he asked so quickly Richie almost didn't understand what he was saying.

"No."

"Am I an inside joke?"

Richie started, "Yes-"

Stan cut him off, "No."

"Does my card say 'don't call me Eds?"

"Yes, what the fuck?" Richie said in awe.

Eddie threw the card down, simultaneously mumbling, "You gave it away, Richie." He picked up a new card which read,  **Richie**. "Am I a person?"

"Yes."

"Am I Bev?"

"No."

"Am I Ben?"

"No."

And right before the timer went off Eddie said, "Am I Richie?"

After that the game was  _on_.  It lasted for about an hour, due to how many cards they had gathered over the years. It was a tie. Between Eddie and Stanley, of course.

"You know w-what you two have to do. You can choose, Ben, since you brought more c-cards." Bill said.

Ben tilted his head up, thinking. He then looked at Stan then Eddie. "How about a good old fashioned staring contest?"

They both nodded before Mike started counting down. 3, 2, 1...And they were off, eyebrows furrowed, and faces stuck out toward each other. It felt as if they were glued like that for forever, the rest of their friends staying quiet to not disturb them. A loud boom from the kitchen made everyone jump and look over.

Richie heard a quiet voice say, "Shit."

"Georgie?" Bill called out.

It took a moment for the nine year old to answer. "Yeah?"

"It's ten thirty, what are you doing up? And where did you learn that word?" Bill stood up and walked towards the kitchen muttering, "I'm s-so dead," under his breath.

"Damn it," Eddie said, "I should get going." He let out a loud sigh.

"No," Richie said as he wrapped his long arms next to the boy next to him.

"Wait, who blinked first?" Beverly asked, a smile showing up on her lips, ready to burst out into laughter.

"It was..." Ben drummed his hands on his lap. "Stan."

"Shit!" Eddie shouted.

"Huh, I wonder where Georgie learned that language from," Mike said, him and Beverly laughing.

Eddie stood up angrily. "I'll give you the money tomorrow."

Stan just shook his head and waved his hand in the air. "That's okay."

"Stan the Man, bein' a man. Really livin' up to your name, son," Richie in an accent he didn't even know.

Stanley rolled his eyes.

Richie looked up to see Eddie's hand in front of his face. Richie let himself be pulled up by the small boy, and then turned to the others. Bill walked back into the living room. "Welp, I've gotta walk Eddie-o-Spaghetti-o home now. Thanks for the wonderful time lady and gents." He bowed as Eddie groaned and mumbled something under his breath.

"Bye guys," Eddie said, pulling Richie behind him.

Everyone said bye as they went outside and closed the door behind them. Their fingers were still laced together as they walked down the driveway and started down the street. It smelled like it was about to rain, a scent Richie grew to love, but at that moment it made an eerie feeling fill his chest. Like something bad was going to happen. He brushed it off quickly. The gravel crunching under their feet was the only sound that could be heard until Eddie spoke up. "Do you wanna meet at the quarry tomorrow?"

"Woah, Eds. Just the two of us? Are you planning something?" He gasped. "A proposal? Oh my God, I'm so excited-"

Eddie snorted. "No, Dumbass. And we hang out alone together all the time." He paused. "I don't know, I just wanted to go there with you tomorrow," he said.

Richie smiled softly. "Of course I want to meet with you at the quarry tomorrow."

"Okay," Eddie agreed, a little smile on his reddened face.

Richie leaned down to peck him on the cheek. The rest of the way was quiet, which was weird. Usually they would be talking up a storm and laughing the whole way, possibly waking up neighbors in the process.

They walked up Eddie's driveway, stopping at his door.

"Alright, Bug. You're home safe."

The short boy reached up and placed his hands on Richie's face, pulling him down to his level so their lips could meet in a soft kiss. Richie gripped his waist as he moved his mouth in a smooth rhythm. His right hand came up to the back of Eddie's head, bringing him even closer. Eddie let out a small sigh as they opened their mouths.

Richie pulled away for a moment softly saying, "I could come in."

Eddie rubbed his thumbs across the tall boy's cheekbones. "My mom slept all day, she'll probably be up all night."

He nodded and gave him one more deep kiss before stepping back. "See ya tomorrow, Babe."

"Bye, Baby."

He watched as Eddie walked into his house, looking behind him at Richie before shutting the door.

Richie stood there for a moment, then walked down the driveway and headed toward his house. He hummed along to _Africa_ by Toto all the way home.

 

When he walked inside he knew his parents were already asleep, unsurprisingly. He locked the front door and headed upstairs to his room where he didn't even bother to change into his pajamas, Richie just kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed. He pulled his phone from his back pocket and set it on his bedside table. He flipped and turned and tried to get comfortable, but only could think of one thing: Eddie. He was worried, for no reason. It soon turned eleven, then twelve, and then one in the morning. At one twenty two in the morning he received a text message.

 

Eddie Spaghetti: _I don't know where I am_

 ~~~~

 

 


	2. He's Sick

Richie reached over to grab his glasses off of his bedside table, which he had set there an hour earlier, almost forgetting to take them off. He read the text over and over again.  _ I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I am, I don’t know- _

He had to stop himself, so he could try to make sense of what was written. He quickly sent Eddie a text back.

Trashmouth:  _ What do you mean? _

Richie reached his hand towards his face, pushing up his glasses, to rub at his eyes. What could Eddie have meant? Was he lost? No, Richie had dropped him off around three hours prior, it was almost one thirty in the morning. He would surely be home, wouldn’t he?

Trashmouth:  _ Are you okay? _

For fifteen minutes, running his hand through his knotted hair constantly, Richie waited for a response. As the time grew longer he couldn’t help the feeling of dread that settled into his stomach. He decided to give it one more chance. Maybe Eddie didn’t hear his phone go off, or maybe he had fallen asleep. 

Trashmouth:  _ Eddie _

Another ten minutes went by.

Maybe Eddie was in trouble.

Trashmouth:  _ I’m coming over _

Richie jumped out of his bed and then pulled on his shoes. He could hear the pitter-patter of the rain against his window, like hundreds of tiny people were knocking on the glass. Not bothering to put a jacket on, he rushed out of his room and slid his phone into his back pocket. He went down the stairs, each step thumping against the wood. When he made it to the door he was stopped by a voice.

"Richie."

He spun around to see his father standing there, arms crossed. 

"Where are you going?" he asked in a strict tone of voice.

"I think Eddie might be in trouble, he sent me this weird text and I-"

"You'll be the one in trouble if you don't get back to bed."

Richie took a deep breath. Usually in these types of situations he would act calm, and maybe even crack a few jokes in the process, but this was about Eddie. If anything happened to him he would never forgive himself. "Listen,Dad. I'm going to go make sure Eddie is okay, whether you like it or not." He clenched his hands into tight fists before raising his voice. "I've had this feeling ever since I came home that something was wrong. I haven't even slept yet because all I can think about is if he's okay or not. I need to do this. Because I will do anything in my power to keep that boy safe, even if it kills me." Richie watched as his father's expression turned soft.

Wentworth held up his hands and took a step back. He went to say something, but then closed his mouth, deciding just to nod for Richie to go.

He nodded back to his dad then turned to bolt out of his house. Richie thought for a second that maybe he shouldn't be doing this. Maybe Eddie is perfectly fine and had fallen asleep. He must've been having a conversation with one of their friends and then had accidentally texted Richie something that sounded bad, even though it made perfect sense in Eddie's previous conversation.  _Let me just make sure_ , he told himself. He hoped that when he got there and knocked on his window, his boyfriend would be there and tell him he was being a dumbass for worrying so much. Richie smiled at the thought.

 

When Richie had finally made it to Eddie's window he knocked twice and waited. The window was always unlocked but Richie didn't want to barge in. He kicked at the dirt under his shoe a few times and then peaked through the crack that the purple curtains failed to cover. Eddie's lamp at his desk was on, a shoe box opened on top.  _He's must be in the bathroo_ _m_. Richie breathed a sigh of relief but that uneasy feeling did not go away. He decided to let himself in and wait for Eddie to come back. He slid the window open, lifting his leg up, over and into the room.

After he got in and closed the window again, Richie walked over to Eddie's desk. The open shoe box he had seen before was filled to the brim with, what he summed up as, memories. Their memories. Multiple movie tickets were stacked in the corner of the box, there were a few wrist bands for the Derry carnival that comes around every year, a  couple small notepads, and a lot of pictures. There were a few pictures scattered across the desk. The first closest to the box, was of all of them, except Eddie who was taking the picture. On the end Beverly was in the process of trying to hit Richie, while he shielded himself. Bill was on the other side, holding Bev back, but failing. Mike had his hands over Ben's ears, trying to shield him from whatever Richie had just said. They were all laughing.

The second picture was of Bill looking off into the distance. Eddie would always take artsy photos like those. Richie had always told him he should be a photographer because he was so good at it.

The last photo was of just the two of them. It was taken by Mike, who they didn't know at the time was standing there taking the picture. They were sitting on the couch, Eddie curled up against his side and looking up at him. A smiling Richie had his elbow sitting on top of the headrest with his fingers combing through the short boy's hair. 

Richie realized that Eddie hadn't come back yet so he took the chance of walking to the bathroom. He stepped into the hall after looking both ways to make sure Sonia wasn't walking around. Her door was open, meaning she most likely fell asleep in her recliner. Much to Richie's dismay, the bathroom door was also open, but the lights were on. The shower curtain was closed.

"Eds?" he whispered as he crept closer to the bathroom. "Just came by cause I forgot to give your mom a goodnight kiss." He entered the room, looking behind him once more. Richie reached forward, pulling the shower curtain slowly open. There was nothing there. 

Richie quickly snapped the light off and walked back down the hall, passing the other bedroom and peering in to find no one, and then heading to the living room. There was Sonia, sleeping in her chair, the tv still blaring whatever soap opera she had been watching. He turned to walk into the kitchen, which was also empty. Richie tried not to panic, he really did. But with the text message, and the bathroom, and the absence of Eddie, he couldn't help it. His brain tried to logically think through the situation. Again, the text could've been sent to him on accident, the bathroom light could've just been left on, and Eddie could... He didn't really know where Eddie could be.

Richie went back to Eddie's room and out the window. He walked up to the doorstep and sat down. Richie started to wait until the sun came up, his foot insistently tapping the ground over and over again.

 

When the sun finally came up, after a few agonizing hours, he stood up and knocked on the front door. It took a few minutes, but Eddie's mom finally came to the door and peeked her head out. Her expression turned scary, she looked...almost crazy. Something Richie had never seen before.

"What do you want?" She spoke, saying each word slowly and carefully.

Richie gulped before putting on his best fake smile. "Is Eddie home?"

"He's sick. He doesn't want to see you."

_Liar_ , he thought. Sonia's eyes were burning with something he didn't recognize. "Well could you tell him I'll see him when he's-"

"No," she spat and slammed the door.

Richie jumped back in surprise. He ran his hand through his hair and decided to walk back to Eddie's window. He had been doing it every once and a while while he was waiting for an appropriate time to knock on the door. Each time, Eddie still hadn't been there. This time was no different.

Richie felt hot tears prick at his eyes.  _What is going on?_  

 

 


	3. We're Gonna Find Him

Beverly woke to her ringtone,   _Cherry Bomb_ , blaring from under her pillow. She groaned loudly and reached to grab it, then answered without even looking at who called. "Hello?" she said tiredly.

"Beverly?"

"Richie?"

“Bev, call Bill, call-” his voice was cut off by what sounded like something breaking, “Fuck, just call everyone, okay?”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Beverly asked, her stomach dropping at how scared Richie sounded.

“Eddie’s gone.”

She immediately shot up, her bed creaking in the process. "What the hell do you mean?"

"He sent me a text last night and it freaked me out so I came to check on him and he's gone Bev, he's just fuckin' gone." Richie sounded on the verge of tears.

Beverly stood up from her bed, slipping her beat up flip flops on. "Where are you?"

"At the quarry. I thought he might be here."

"We'll be there in a few, okay?"

Richie sniffled on the other end. "Okay."

Beverly didn't say anything else, she just hung up. She didn't bother brushing her hair or changing out of her pajamas, she just ran out of her room and into the kitchen. She passed her father on the way, but didn't speak a word to him about what was going on. He had tried to say something but Bev was already out the door. Ben's house was just a block away, so that's where she was headed, simultaneously calling Mike, who was the farthest away.

He picked up right away. "Hey, Bev."

"Come to the quarry," she said quickly.

"I don't think I can-"

"Eddie's missing."

There was a slight pause on the other end before he said, "I'll be there in five," and hung up.

Beverly picked up her pace, now running up the street. When she caught sight of Ben's house, she went even faster. Looking down at her phone she texted a quick  _come outside_ to him as she got to the end of the driveway. He was out before she had even reached the top, a look of worry on his face and his phone in his hand.

"Call Stan and tell him to meet us at the quarry, because Eddie's missing." She didn't wait for a response before walking back down the driveway, her phone up to her ear again as she called Bill. She was out of breath and scared. God, was she scared. This was Derry. Anything could happen here.

"Hey," Bill said.

"You need to come to the quarry right now."

"What for?"

"Eddie is missing," she said calmly, even though she felt anger boiling up inside her, because she's getting sick of telling everyone where and why.

"On m-my w-way." Beverly could tell he had gotten nervous, his stutter had suddenly gotten worse.

She turned around to see Ben hanging up his phone. "He's coming," he said. "So, what happened?" 

He caught up with her, and they started jogging to the quarry. She was frustrated having to explain again, but it was Ben. She couldn't be mad at him. "Richie called me and he said that he got a weird text from Eddie. He went over to his house and he was gone." She took a deep breath. "Jesus, Ben. What are we gonna do?"

Ben's eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes darting back and forth from Bev to the street in front of them. "Well, first I think we should look around for him. Like at the Aladdin, maybe the barrens. If we can't find him by then, we should tell the police."

Beverly didn't think the police would help, but they could try to tell them anyway. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm herself down. If something happened to Eddie, they would never be the same again. She didn't know what they would do. He's their family. Part of the only family they had ever had.

 

Beverly led the way to the quarry, Ben trailing behind her. She saw a figure sitting there, head in their hands. "Richie?" she called out.

He looked up from his spot on the ground, clearly crying. He brushed few tears away quickly, then stood up to hug Bev. She could feel Ben join in.

It sounded as if Richie let out the smallest sob. "Guys, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. What if he's- Remember what happened to Betty Ripsom? What if we find him and he's d-"

"Shh. Rich, listen to me. We're gonna find him." He nodded against her neck. "We're gonna find him," she whispered. Her own eyes were filled with tears.

"We are," Ben agreed.

They broke apart, Richie wiping his face with his hands. Beverly had never seen him cry. Even when they were younger and in elementary school. He had always been the one to crack a joke in a tough situation. Whenever his parents would give him a hard time at home, he would just be a little quieter than usual. That's what let Beverly know this was serious.

They heard a rustling from behind and turned to see Stan and Bill coming towards them. Stan looked like he was thinking about something, his eyes were flicking back and forth, focusing on nothing in particular. He kept pulling at the collar of his shirt.

Bill tried to say something, but he couldn't get it out. He stopped beside Beverly, intertwining his shaky fingers with her own.  He stood up straight, trying to look like he was the confident Bill Denbrough everyone knew him as. Bev saw right through his facade.

Mike arrived shortly, a worried expression on his face. Richie showed everyone the text he had received and explained what had happened again as calmly as he could. He looked like he could start crying at any moment. They all did. Everyone remembered what happened when Betty Ripsom was found dead, and when Georgie had gone missing they had thought he was dead too, but they had then found him. Beverly hoped this situation was like the latter.

"Are you _sure_  he wasn't at home?" Stan asked. She saw he meant to say it hopefully, that maybe Eddie was really home this whole time, but it came off as though Stan thought that Richie was overreacting. 

Richie looked irritated but answered calmly, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Bev nudged Ben next to her, trying to get him to talk.

There was a silence for a moment before he spoke up. "Let's walk around town, see if we can find him. Maybe he went out somewhere. We can split up, to cover more ground."

"Ben, Richie and I, can go into town, and then Bill, Stan, and Mike, you guys can go to the barrens," Bev said. She checked the time on her phone, it was almost 6 am. "Should we meet back here at seven, or maybe eight?"

"Eight," Richie said.

They all nodded their heads. Bev watched as Stan took a step towards Richie and mumbled something into his ear. Richie gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but an appreciative one. The group headed back to the street together, said their good lucks, and went on their way. 

Richie walked ahead of Beverly and Ben the whole way into town, but he was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Remember when we found Georgie hiding in that drain pipe?" Ben asked.

"Of course," she said.

"I think it's going to be just like that. We're gonna find him, he'll be perfectly fine, and it'll be over."

Richie had started walking slower, ending next to them again as they walked to the Aladdin theater. "You really think so?" he asked.

"Definitely. I mean, it's Eddie. Even if he did get in trouble he would be the one winning in a fight."

"Yeah." Richie sniffed. "What a little badass."

Beverly smiled at Ben, who smiled back.

 

They made it into the Aladdin and looked around. Ben went into the bathroom while Beverly and Richie walked up to the ticket salesman, who they had never seen working there before.

"Just the two of you?" the man asked.

"Oh no, we're not buying any tickets," she said. "We're looking for someone."

"Oh yeah? What do they look like?"

"He's sixteen, he's got brown hair and brown eyes," Richie stated. "He's about yea high." He immediately lifted his hand to a smidge below his nose, like he had memorized his exact height. Beverly saw him close his mouth abruptly. She guessed it was because he was about to describe him as cute, but didn't want it to seem like he was joking, even though he wasn't.

"Sorry, I don't think I've seen him."

Richie ran his hand through his hair.

The man seemed to notice how worried they were. "If I see him I'll be sure to come find y'all. If you have any trouble come here and ask for me, Mr. Edgecomb. Alright?"

"Thank you," Beverly said. She turned to look at Richie, who had the same expression on his face. A nice adult? In Derry? One of a kind.

Ben came walking out of the bathroom, a hopeful look on his face. Bev shook her head, and his expression was wiped away. "C'mon, guys," he said. "Let's go to the comic store."

Richie nodded his head quickly. Ben and Beverly knew that's where he and Eddie went a lot. As they walked out, he looked back once more, searching through the small groups of people.

The store was just around the corner, but it was closed. They stared at the doors for a few seconds, each thinking things over. Richie was the first to speak up. "He would've texted me back," he said softly.

"Huh?" Ben said.

"When I went to his house, I didn't see his phone. But he doesn't have it, because if he did he would've texted me back." He looked back and forth between Beverly and Ben.

Bev nodded. That did make sense. But there was one problem. "Then who would have his phone?"

There was a long silence. "Maybe it ran out of battery?" Ben said.

"He wouldn't leave home with a dead or almost dead phone. He would've charged it."

"He could've lost it."

"Maybe." Beverly said. She didn't think that was the answer though. This seemed like something much bigger than Eddie just randomly going somewhere himself and losing his phone. She didn't want to say it, but Eddie was in trouble. Richie seemed to notice this as well but he wasn't sad, he looked almost angry. Ben tried to be optimistic for his sake. Beverly really loved that about Ben, he was always so caring and respectful to everyone. But she knew he had come to the same conclusion as her, he looked nervous. He kept shifting his weight from foot to foot.

At that point they didn't know what to do. They had forgotten most places were closed because of how early it was (Except the Aladdin which was always open early). But Eddie couldn't have gone there if it was already closed. All they could do was hope that Bill, Stan, and Mike had found him at the barrens.

 

 


	4. Just Another Queer

Bill was heading to the barrens with Stan and Mike to try to find Eddie. He felt a sense of deja vu, it was just like when Georgie had gone missing when he was six years old. They had searched for two weeks before they had found him in a drain pipe, hiding. From what, they had never found out. Bill felt like they might not be as lucky as they had been three years ago. It wasn't that slim of a chance that a member of your 8 person family went missing out of everyone in Derry, since there weren't many people. The statistic was probably something like one out of eight people in Derry, Maine will go missing at some point in their life. But two? And only three years apart?  It was an even slimmer chance that they would happen to find both of them with how many people had gone missing and hadn't turned up yet. He remembered when Georgie had been gone for about a week, and he didn't listen to anyone about their opinions. Georgie was alive, and he was going to find him. That was it. This time he didn't want to take the chance of looking on the bright side. There was a greater chance this time that they wouldn't find him. He felt his heart clench and a tear threaten to escape his eye when he thought about never seeing Eddie again. The losers had all met on their first day of kindergarten. He remembered the instant connection they all had, and the next day when they got to school, all seven of them ran to each other. He had never felt like he had a real family, with how his parents treated him and his brother. At the start everything was perfect. But then Georgie went missing. His parents did not cry at all during those two weeks. When he had come back home, they seemed different. Like Georgie wasn't meant to be found. Ever since then, they barely acted as if Georgie was alive, which made Bill hate them. Then they had started ignoring him too. That was when he had realized Stan, Eddie, Richie, Ben, Bev, Mike, and Georgie of course, were his real family. And Eddie had been the one who he confided in, because he was the first person Bill had ever trusted.

"Bill?" Stan asked, setting a hand on his shoulder. 

Apparently, they had stopped walking. Mike and Stan were in front of him, worried expressions on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked.

Bill realized that a tear had slipped down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away. "S-sorry. I was just thinking too h-h-hard, that's all."

Stan's eyebrows flinched, like they were about to furrow, then he nodded and stepped back. He tugged at his collar.

Mike gave him a sad smile and kept on walking. 

As they made it to the barrens, one of their usual spots to hang out, they could already tell he wasn't there.

They walked forward and looked around. A few towels hung from a tree so whenever it rained and got muddy they had a place to sit. Their initials were all carved into that same tree. Richie and Eddie's names had a heart that Beverly had carved, before they had even started dating, around them. Bill remembered that the two boys were already in love with each other then and everyone knew it. Both of them had been sulking for weeks, until one day they had met up with the losers and were holding hands. They had never told them how they got together, but they were really happy. Everyone had sat on the ground and Eddie sat between Richie's legs.The whole time Richie kept pressing kisses to Eddie's hair and they wouldn't stop whispering things to each other. It actually wasn't that different from how they had acted before, but it was nice to finally see them together.

"Hey, losers," a voice said from behind them.

 Bill turned around to see Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter standing there. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Mike walked up next to him, Stanley on the other side. "We don't have time for this," Stan said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.

"What'd you fuckin' say, freak?" Henry asked.

"We're tired of your b-bullshit," Bill said outright. He noticed out of the corner of his eye, that Stanley was staring at him. Bill swallowed and directed his attention back the problem. The sound of a switchblade clicking open made him jump. 

As the blade in Patrick's hand glistened in the morning sun that peered through the trees, a thought flashed through Bill's mind. What if they were behind all of this? The losers all knew about the two boys' murderous tendencies. Beverly had told everyone about how she saw Patrick putting animals inside of an old fridge at the dump and leaving them there. Thankfully, Bev would always let them out.

Henry had been tormenting them the longest out of everyone. Bill couldn't even remember when it had started, but he does remember that they had went to a teacher at school about what was going on and no one ever did anything about it. He had beat them up multiple times, and had even helped Patrick when he had broke Eddie's arm in seventh grade. Bill watched as Henry clicked open his own switchblade and concluded that they could be the ones responsible for taking Eddie. Maybe they had come to take them too, to kill them. Could Eddie really be dead?

"Did you h-hurt Eddie?" Bill asked.

Patrick gave a smile. "Maybe. Maybe he'll end up just like Betty Ripsom."

"Who's that?" Henry asked, a matching smile creeping onto his face.

"I don't know. Just another  _queer_."

Bill knew they were just trying to rile them up, they didn't even know the situation, but that didn't stop his blood from boiling. "F-fuckers!" He tried to run towards the two boys but Stan and Mike held him back.

"Bill, stop they have knives," Mike said, struggling to hold him.

"Yeah, hold him just like that," Henry said, walking closer.

"Bill," Stan said. "Bill!"

He looked at Stan's pleading eyes. Bill stopped struggling. The three boys all started running at the same time, away from Henry and Patrick. Bill didn't want to run. He wanted to turn around and punch Patrick in the face, but he couldn't put Stan or Mike in danger.

 

When they had run back to a street they knew, then made sure Henry and Patrick weren't behind them, they started to walk to Eddie's house.

"Maybe he just went out in the night and he's back home now. I bet that's what's going on," Mike said in an unsure voice.

"Yeah," Bill said quietly.

Stan didn't say anything, he just kept walking.

As the house came into view, he noticed all of the lights were off. Sonia's car was gone. Bill looked over at Stanley. His face was vaguely despondent, not like his usual calm and collected self, which surprised him. Stan turned his head to look back and Bill turned ahead again, feeling his face getting warmer.

The three of them traveled up the driveway. Mike got there first and knocked immediately.

"I'm gonna go look through his window," Stan said and then left.

Bill nodded as Mike called through the door, "Eddie?"

There was no response.

"Eddie!" he called louder.

Bill thought he could hear a muffled sound coming from somewhere, but he couldn't pinpoint it. It was so quiet, he wasn't sure if it was there at all. "Do you hear that?" Bill said, telling Mike to stop and listen by holding his hand up.

They listened for a while, long enough that Bill realized it was just his imagination. Stan came walking from the side of the house, shaking his head. "The door is open, the light is off, and there was no Eddie. He could have gone with his mom to the store or something."

Bill shook his head. "He would've texted Richie by now then."

Mike ran his hands over his face. "Jesus," he mumbled.

All they could do now, was hope that Bev, Richie and Ben had found him in town.

 

 

 


	5. If You Find Him

That feeling in Richie's chest hadn't stopped. It wasn't unbearable, or much of anything really, but it was noticeable. It was like there was a little bit of pressure right on his heart. When he had seen Mike, Stan, Bill and... no Eddie, standing at the quarry, the pressure grew a small bit. The six of them had decided to walk around town, which they did for most of the day, and they found absolutely nothing. At the end of the day they were all sat in Bill's living room, silent.

Stan cleared his throat. "I think I know what's going on." He straightened out his shirt and then placed his hands neatly on his lap.

Richie's head shot up. Immediately regretting his decision, his hand came up to hold his pounding head. He cursed quietly, he hadn't eaten anything all day.

Stanley continued, "I think that maybe his mom took him somewhere. She was gone when we went over there earlier, and when she talked to you, Rich, she said Eddie was sick but he clearly wasn't there."

"Where would she take him though?" Ben asked.

"Somewhere where he can't use his phone," Beverly added, looking tired just like the rest of them. She opened her eyes up wider for a moment to try and wake herself up more. Richie didn't feel tired at all, maybe he looked like it, but his brain was working at a lightning speed.

Mike scratched his head. "What, like a...a conversion camp or something?"

"Do those even still exist?" Richie asked.

"His mom would p-probably find one somewhere to send him t-to."

Richie ran a hand through his hair. _What if she saw us together?_ he thought. _What if this is all my fault?_ He had heard stories of what happened to people in those places. He couldn't imagine Eddie going through that.

They all sat still and quiet once more, Bill getting up and walking to the kitchen, presumably to get everyone something to eat. Richie picked at his nails, thinking.

"Hey, guys!" Georgie called as he walked into the living room.

Richie smiled. "Hey, Big Man."

He sat between Beverly and Richie and looked around. "Where's Eddie?" he asked.

They all looked at each other, debating on whether to tell him or not. He looked at each of their faces. "What?"

"Eddie's at home. He just couldn't come today," Stan said.

"Why?"

"Because," Beverly started, "He..." She looked around for help.

Bill walked back in, sitting on the other side of Beverly. "I just put a pizza in the-"

"Come on, you can tell me. I'm not too little." Georgie said then crossed his arms.

Bill looked to Richie, eyes telling him to keep quiet.

"We can't find him," Mike said.

"M-Mike!"

"What? He's one of us, Bill. He deserves to know."

Ben nodded and looked over to Beverly who started to speak. "I think he should know too."

Georgie's brow furrowed as he looked at Richie. "Why can't you find him?"

"He's...Well, because he's just gone."

"I don't want Eddie to be gone," Georgie said, stubbornly and a little sadly.

"Neither do we, Bud," Richie said, his voice almost quivering.

 

Twelve days of searching went by. On each day they had spent hours walking, going to stores and random houses just asking people if they had seen him. Georgie had even went with them most days. They had tried talking to Sonia, but she never answered the door anymore. Everything seemed tense between them, like a cord was just getting tighter and tighter every moment. Richie felt himself starting to respond in angrier tones to his friends, and sometimes they would do it back. At the end of the week the cord snapped, hard.

The seven of them were walking to Ben's house when it had happened.

"I think we should tell the police," Richie said, talking over his shoulder. "Maybe they would be able to-"

"No," Bill said.

Richie stopped in his tracks and turned around to look him in the eyes. "Why not?"

The rest of them stopped also, all looking back and forth between the two boys.

"Well, when we went t-to t-t-talk to them when Georgie went missing they didn't d-do anything."

"But we should still try. What we've been doing hasn't helped us at all with finding him," Richie said, running his hands through his hair.

"They won't help us," Bill said as his voice raised.

"Okay, Bill. Then what do you want us to do then? Do you just wanna keep walking around, doing absolutely fucking nothing?"

"Guys," Bev said, pulling a distressed Georgie closer to her.

"I want t-to find Eddie."

"We all want to fucking find Eddie! He's  _my_ boyfriend for Christ's sake!" Richie threw his hands up, exasperated.

Bill took a few steps closer. "Oh, is that the only reason you want to find him? B-because he's the only one who is willing to put up with you and be your _boyfriend_? Wow, Richie t-Tozier's boyfriend, what a great accomplishment. He's the only one you've ever dated, are you worried no one will ever like you ever again? Hell, even your parents d-don't like you-"

"Well yours aren't exactly parents of the year either, Denbrough-"

Ben tried to stop them. "Guys, I think you two should cool it-"

"You know, Eddie deserves so much b-better than you!"

"You know what, fucker? He does! Eddie deserves the fucking world, and I can try my best to give it to him, but first I have to find him to do it!"

Both of them were inching closer by the second. "If you find him."

Richie stopped dead in his tracks. "What...What? What the fuck did you say?" He wasn't yelling anymore, his voice was quiet. "You don't think we'll find him?"

Bill looked away.

"I love him, you know that? You can't just-" His voice cracked. Richie's brows were furrowed, and his eyes looked wetter than usual. "You can't just say shit like that. We're gonna find him. We're gonna find him, right guys?" He looked at Ben, who lowered his head. Then at Mike, who was scratching the back of his neck and watching Georgie, who had a tear slipping sown his cheek. "Bev?"

Beverly opened her mouth to speak, then closed and opened it again. "We've been searching for a while Rich," she said, heartbreak in her voice.

"You too? It hasn't even been two weeks," he said sadly.

A tear slipped down her cheek, accidentally mimicking Georgie. "We haven't even gotten a sign that he's... That he's ali-"

"Don't you fucking dare," Richie said.

There was silence.

But just for a moment.

"Right."

Richie looked at Stan, who had spoken.

"We're gonna find him," he said.

Bill looked at Stanley. "Stan, c-c'mon."

"Bill," he said, his eyes pleading.

"No. I'm not just gonna give him p-pity like that. We need to face the facts-"

"Yeah. Let's face the facts, Bill. You're being an asshole." Stan looked around. "You're all being assholes! Eddie's our best friend! And your just gonna give up on him? Just like that?"

Bill reached out for him, but he whipped his arm away, looking like he had been burned. "Don't touch me," he said as he shook his head. "You could've... You had your chance a long time ago. And now you're looking at me like that?" Stanley's voice had lowered to a whisper. "I can't believe you."

"What are you talking about?" Beverly asked. She was kneeling next to Georgie and had been whispering reassuring words to the boy. Her head was turned to the rest of the group.

Bill looked back and forth between Beverly and Stanley.

"Well," Stan started. "Right before you two had gotten together-"

Bill tried to stop him. "Stan, wait-"

"Shut up," Bev said, urging Stan to continue as she stood up.

"The day before you asked him out, he kissed me. He told me he had loved me. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Beverly, but I just couldn't. No one knows... No one  _knew_ I'm gay."

Richie's let out a breath. He had never expected that. When did they start having so many secrets between each other?

Beverly looked broken, like she didn't know what to say, but she started speaking anyway. "I thought you loved me."

"I do, b-Beverly. I-"

"But you love Stan! You can't..."

"I know it sounds bad," he said, looking ashamed. "I can't just change my feelings."

Georgie looked around. "Let's go try to find Eddie some more."

Richie could tell he was trying to get everyone to stop arguing, but everyone was too riled up.

"We're going home, Georgie," Bill said.

Richie let out a laugh. "Yeah, let's just all go home and not bother to look for Eddie anymore-"

Bill turned to look at him with tears in his eyes. "Beep beep, Richie."

"No, Bill. You can't do that. You can't just give up on him. He might be out there, scared and alone. We need to find him."

"I need to go make lunch for Georgie," Bill muttered, then grabbed his little brother's hand and started walking away.

Richie tried to go after him, but Mike held him back. "Let him go, Rich. He needs to cool off-"

Richie ripped his arm away. "Well while you're waiting for him to cool off I'm going to look for Eddie."

So they split up. Beverly, Mike and Ben kept walking, and Richie and Stan went to the police station to file a missing persons report.


	6. He Wouldn't Want Anyone Else

They had filed the missing persons report to unenthusiastic police officers, who definitely weren't interested in trying to find Eddie, but they had still said they would keep an eye out for him. Stanley didn't believe them and he could tell Richie didn't either. His face was stony the entire time they were talking to the cops.

Stan wasn't upset that his secret was out, he was more glad, but he _was_ upset at what Bill had said. He understood why he said it though, he wasn't sure if Richie knew though. As soon as they had left the police station he had started speed walking to his own house. Stan tried to keep up with him. "Richie," he said, but he kept going.

When they had finally made it to Richie's house, he ran up the stairs, Stan trailing behind him. "Richie, come on." He had already made it to his room when Stan had entered.

Richie stood with his arms crossed, looking out his window. Quiet noises were coming from him. "Do you think my parents would get mad if I punched a hole in my wall?" he asked softly, his voice quivering a bit.

"Yes?" Stan answered honestly.

Richie nodded then paused. He walked to the other side of the room, hiding his face, and slowly plucked the four thumbtacks holding up his Queen poster out of the wall. Stan watched in curiosity as he set them on the desk next to him and then set the poster there as well. He quickly caught on to what was happening. Stan took a couple steps forward, seeing the other boy's face. Richie had a few tears slipping down past his glasses. He pushed them up to the top of his head and wiped the wetness away with the back of his hand. "I don't think this is a good idea," Stan said.

Richie let out a small sob before punching the wall, his fist making an indent but not breaking through. The boom was loud enough for his parents to hear from anywhere in the house. "It's all my fault," he said. He took his hand away and delivered an even harder blow to the wall, making a hole. Richie looked broken, like how Georgie looked when they had found him in the drain pipe, or how Eddie's face looked like when Patrick broke his arm. It was pained, heartbroken. Stanley had never seen him cry, ever, or look like how he did in that moment. Richie was smiling all the time (usually at Eddie) and making jokes, but the past few days the world had seemed to forget about the old Richie Tozier and leave a shell of his old self behind. If somehow they didn't manage to find Eddie, even though Stan was confident that they would, he wasn't sure if Richie would ever be the same again. The boy in question was now sobbing loud, tears dripping from his chin. 

Stan stepped forward to stop him but Richie just punched again and again, making the hole bigger. "It's  _my_ fault!" he yelled, starting to shake from the sobs that racked his body.

"Richie," Stan said. "You need to stop, you'll hurt yourself."

Richie's glasses had fallen to the ground as he picked up the pace. Stan was afraid he would break his hand if he kept going any longer so he grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the wall. Richie immediately crumpled to the ground, back pushed up against his bed and head in his hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled over and over again.

Stanley reached down and picked up the glasses, then set them on the bed. He then sat on the floor next to Richie.

It took him a while to start speaking, and when he did his body still, but tears were still staining his shirt. "Eddie deserves someone so much better than me. It's my fault if he's been sent to a conversion camp. And I can't even help him. What kinda boyfriend," another sob," can't protect-"

"If you knew how to help him you would, and none of this is your fault, Richie," Stanley said softly, truthfully. "Eddie loves you more than any one in the world, so much it's actually insane. He wouldn't want anyone else."

"But what if she saw us together? Then it  _is_ my fault," he said, bringing his hands from his face.

He then saw how warn out the boy looked, with bags under his eyes and dry, cracked lips."It would be her fault. What kind of person sends their kid to a conversion camp?" Stanley knew if his parents found out he was gay they would be mad, but would they send him to one of those places? He didn't think so.

Richie nodded as he sniffed and then looked at the wall. He let out a sigh. "Why the  _fuck_ did I just punch a hole in my wall?"

Stan let out a chuckle as Richie smiled. "Did it at least make you feel better?"

Richie nodded again. "Hurt my hand a hell of a lot though." He raised his hand up. Two of his knuckles were bloody and the whole area was beet red.

"Jesus Christ," Stan murmured.

Richie gave another laugh, his smile immediately dropping. "Remember when Henry punched me right in the face and I fell?"

"Yeah."

"I landed on my hand and it looked just like this." He ran his pointer finger on his other hand over the redness, eyebrows furrowed. "Eddie had walked me to his house and patched me up and he didn't even care about the blood. I gave him a kiss on the cheek right after. God did he blush." He smiled sadly.

"How did you two get together? You've ever told us," Stan said, straightening his shirt out.

Richie looked behind him, then plucked his glasses of the bed and stuck them on. "He was reading," he said.

Stan furrowed his brow. "Reading?"

"Yep. He was reading me this part in his book that he thought was funny. He said 'Rich, just shut up and listen, you ass,' so I tried to, but I couldn't stop staring at him. He was talking with the smallest, cutest smile in the whole world on his face, and his cheeks were starting to turn red. One moment I was looking at him and the next I was kissing him. I didn't even think about it, it just happened."

"And what did he do?"

"He got mad and said, 'I was in the middle of showing you something, idiot!' Then I responded with, 'Oh, what were you saying?' Then he grabbed my face and said, 'It's not important, just kiss me again.' So I did."

 Stan couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. "That's about what I expected."

"Yeah." Richie stood up, holding his bloody hand away from him, with that same sad smile on his face. "I'm gonna go clean this up," he said, then walked out of his room, closing the door behind him.

Stan stood up as well, studying the wall. He decided to cover the hole back up with Richie's Queen poster. He held it up with one hand and stuck the tacks in with the other, one by one. He stepped back, but only to see that it was crooked. He sighed and restarted. Stan thought about Bill, who must be hurting so bad. He knew he didn't mean to act so harsh. Come on, it was Bill, he was always kind to everyone. But everyone was on edge that day. He was obviously devastated about the thought that Eddie might be dead. Stan realized he must be trying to lessen the blow for himself, maybe for everyone else too. Mike, Ben and Bev must have felt the same way.

Speaking of Beverly, she must be hurt. He almost felt bad for telling what happened with him and Bill, but she deserved to know. He understood how she felt. The person you love doesn't only love you but someone else. It made a feeling of jealousy fill your heart every time they're seen with the other person. But Stan knew he couldn't be with Bill, after everything that had happened. He would rather just be friends with Bill than being boyfriends and losing Beverly as a friend.

Stan felt horrible for Georgie. He had started crying the third day he had went looking with the losers for Eddie. He kept saying that he wanted Eddie back, which broke his heart. But now he had to witness everyone split up? Stan was sure Georgie had been confused about some of the details, but saddened to see the closest people in the world to him argue.

He stepped back for the fourth time of adjusting the poster and was satisfied. He sat down on the bed and suddenly realized people were speaking in the hallway. A few moments later Richie walked back in the room. "My mom asked what the noise was," he said, rolling his eyes, and stood in the middle of the room. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and looked up. "I'm gonna try to call him."

"Bill?" Stan asked.

"Eddie," Richie clarified. He dialed the number in a few seconds, clearly having it memorized. 

Stanley could hear it ringing as he put it on speaker, which surprised him. Richie had called his phone many times during the first few days, but not recently. It was ringing though. Someone must be hearing it and ignoring the sound, right? No one picked up and the answering machine came on. "This is Eddie Spaghetti's phone!" Richie's voice rang out.

"Rich! Give it back!" Stan heard Eddie's voice say.

Richie continued with his Eddie impression. "Right now I'm busy fantasizing over my boyfriend so pleaseleaveamessageafterthebeep-"

"Beep beep, Richie!"

"There it is!"

Richie hung up before he could leave a message. Stan could tell he was holding back more tears. He rocked back and forth a few times, his bottom lip caught in between his teeth. "Fuck," he whispered as he wiped another tear away. "God, I love him."

Stan nodded. "We all do."

Richie let out a sarcastic laugh and shook his head. "Tell that to Bill."

"The only reason he said those things earlier were because he loves him. He's scared."

Richie looked at him. "Do you still love Bill?"

"Well, yeah."

"No, more than a friend."

"He's family, so yes," Stan said, ignoring the real question.

"You do, don't you?"

Stanley faltered as he tried to answer that, no, it wasn't like that anymore. But he couldn't lie. "I wish i didn't." He shrugged his shoulders.

Richie didn't say anything, he just stood looking tired and maybe a little confused.

"When did you last sleep?" Stan asked, changing the subject.

"I dunno, it's probably been a couple days maybe," he said.

"Richie, you need to get some rest."

"I need to find Eddie," he said stubbornly.

Stanley thought for a moment. "Okay, how about you stay here and rest for at least an hour or two, and I go and look around?"

"But-"

Stan gave him a stern look.

"Fine." He let out a loud sigh then got in bed. He stuffed his face in his pillow and groaned loudly.

"Are you having a tantrum?"

Stan could vaguely hear him mumble something. He smiled and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Then he went downstairs, seeing Richie's mom in the kitchen, who only glanced up at him before going back to reading. He walked out of Richie's house and started walking.

It had gotten darker and the wind had started blowing harder, making the hair on his arms stand up. He felt a little creeped out walking all by himself in the dark when Eddie is missing. Stan kept looking over his shoulder, expecting to see someone behind him, but no one was ever there. He kicked a pebble with his shoe, making it hop across the pavement in steady clicks. He jolted as his phone starting ringing. After letting out a sigh of relief and pulled it out of his pocket. Beverly was calling. He answered immediately, not bothering to stop and think if it was a good idea to talk to her after everything that happened. "Hello?"

"Hey," she said.

There was a long silence that made Stan cringe. "So-" they said at the same time.

Beverly let out a chuckle on the other end that was followed by more silence. "Jesus, when did we start getting so awkward around each other?"

Stan let out a small laugh. "The past few hours I guess."

She sighed. "Uh yeah, about that. So...listen, I want to help look for Eddie. I thought about what you said and realized that you and Richie are  _so_ right. I said some things I shouldn't have."

"Yeah, that was a pretty fucked up thing to do," he said.

"I know. I can't believe I agreed with him, but I feel so helpless you know?"

"Yeah, we feel like that too."

"Is Richie there with you?" she asked.

"No. I made him take a nap, he was exhausted."

"Well that's good."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"I really want to find him," Beverly said abruptly. Stan thought she sounded like she was crying. "I'm so sorry I acted like that. I'm _s_ _o_ sorry."

"I know, Bev," he said truthfully.

"I miss him," she said and made a sniffling noise. "I want this to be all over. I want him to be here so bad."

Stan didn't know why he had gotten so sad all of the sudden, but he did. He couldn't help how his lip quivered as he started speaking. "I do too," he choked out, trying to old back his own tears.

"Are you out looking for him now?"

"Yeah."

"Can I help?"

"Of course."

 

 

 


	7. What Do You Want?

There was a knock on Richie's door, waking him up. He lifted his head from the pillow, smelling the scent of rain. When he looked toward the window he realized that it wasn't pouring or even sprinkling, but somehow, the smell was still there. The sky was a strange orange color and no clouds were anywhere in sight. It looked like just one solid color, nothing like the usual blue sky he knew.

Richie got off of the bed, expecting Stan to be waiting outside the door for him. His feet hurt. They were throbbing uncomfortably in his socks. Every step he took just made it worse. When he made it to the door he grabbed the handle then jolted because of how cold it was. It felt almost as if he had grabbed a block of ice. Despite the temperature he turned it slowly, the door creaking as it opened.

He kept his eyes fixed on the floor, where Stan's shoes were. Where they should have been. Instead of Stan's perfectly white sneakers that he always wore, they were a pair of black Adidas. Ones that had words sharpied in all of the white spaces. Richie knew what those words said, he had written them after all. His eyes traveled up higher, seeing the red shorts he knew so well. Up even higher on the person's small frame he saw a salmon polo shirt. When he had looked at the person's face his heart dropped. "Eddie?"

Eddie gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, one that Richie didn't notice because he quickly lunged himself at the boy, wrapping his long arms around him. "Baby, where have you been?" he asked as he felt himself start to cry.

Eddie did not hug back. He almost felt like a mannequin in Richie's arms. "Where were you?" he asked, his voice quiet, but ominous.

"What?" Richie said.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Richie pulled back. "What are you talking-"

Eddie's face was suddenly rotted, some sort of fluid dripping down his chin. His eyes were large and completely black, so much so that Richie could see his reflection in them. His clothing, that Richie realized was an outfit Eddie used to wear all the time, was tattered and hanging down in strips. "Why did you let me die, Richie?" he said in a distorted voice.

Richie was horrified at what he saw. It looked like Eddie should be in immense pain. His eyes flicked back to his shoes. "I didn't, Eds, I swear-"

"Look at me!" he screamed.

Richie felt his heartbeat quicken as he looked back up. His eyes flicked back and forth between Eddie's eyes. "Eds? Where are you?" he heard himself say, out of nowhere. His hands moved to Eddie's decomposed face, cupping his cheeks. He didn't feel control of his body.

Eddie thrashed around, trying to get Richie to release him. "Don't call me that!" he screamed.

"Eddie!" he screamed back, tears falling from his eyes.

The short boy froze in place, his dark eyes flicking around the room, not locking with Richie's even once. "It's too late," he mumbled. "It's too late!" In a blink of an eye he disappeared.

The sky outside had turned dark, and a blackness was surrounding him. Richie was suddenly terrified, a chill went down his spine as he sank to the floor, hands covering his eyes. _It's too late!_ he heard Eddie scream in his head. _You can't save me, it's too late!_ "No, _no_!" Richie shouted. It sounded as if Eddie's voice was circling him. _I'm dead!_  he screamed. Richie heard Eddie start whining and sobbing. _Richie, Richie please! Why didn't you save me? I thought you loved me!_ "I do, I love you more than anything," he sobbed. "Please..." _Richie help! Richie! RICHIE!_

"Richie!" Stan shouted.

Richie jumped awake and scooted backwards, instantly hitting his head on the headboard. He brought his hands up to cover his tear-streaked face. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"Oh my God. Richie, are you okay?" he heard Stan ask.

He breathed in and out shakily. "Fuck," he mumbled. "This is real right? You're really here?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's okay. Put your hands down," he said.

Richie slowly peaked through his fingers, making sure Stan was actually there, and he was out of his dream. He lowered his hands. Light from the blue sky was shining through the window, making him squint. "A nightmare," he choked out.

"I know, I was walking up the street and could hear you screaming from out there," he paused. "Was it about Eddie?" Stan asked.

Richie just nodded. He wiped the remaining tears off of his face and climbed out of bed, still slightly shaking. He decided to change the subject immediately. "I thought you said you were going to let me sleep for an hour or two, not all night."

"You needed to sleep," he said and shrugged. "We went looking for him again though."

Richie's eyebrows furrowed. "We?"

Stan pulled on the collar of his shirt, which wasn't even tight. "Beverly called me last night. She said she wanted to help."

Richie thought of what Bev had said the day before. _We've been searching for a while, Rich_. She thought Eddie was dead. Why would she want to help? "Why? She doesn't even..."

"She was scared."

"Yeah? Well I'm scared too, but I didn't just brush this whole thing off and settle with Eddie being dead."

Stanley frowned. "That's not what-"

"Whatever. I'm going out." Richie had debated taking a shower, but thought it would waste too much time. He had already wasted enough sleeping. He slipped on his shoes, which he kicked off before falling asleep, and grabbed his glasses and his phone which had thirty-nine percent of battery left. Stan stood there watching him the whole time. Richie got frustrated. " _What?_ " he snapped, as he turned to look at him.

"Nothing," he said and stuck his hands in his pockets.

Richie rolled his eyes and walked past him, running a hand through his tangled hair. He stepped down stairs, holding the back of his head where he'd hit it on the headboard. Richie guessed his parents had gone somewhere, or they had heard him screaming and didn't care if it sounded like he was being murdered. He walked past the kitchen, and heard a knock on the door. His mind flashed back to his dream, causing a chill to go down his spine again. Richie kept walking to the front door anyway. He reached the handle like before, only it was a normal temperature. Another knock came again, causing him to just open it up all the way.

It was Bill.

Richie already felt anger boiling up inside of him. “What do you want?”

“I...I-I came to s-say...I’m sorry,” Bill said, looking off to the side.

Richie wasn't expecting that. He clenched his fists tightly and breathed out through his nose. "I'm not who you need to be saying that to." He looked backwards at the stairs to see Stan watching the confrontation. Richie looked back and watched in curiosity as Bill started tearing up. He hadn't cried since Georgie went missing.

"I know," he said. "But the things I s-said were horrible. I only said them because I don't want t-to get my hopes up, when I sh-should be helping instead of just assuming the worst."

Richie ran a hand through his hair. "You need to apologize to Stan and Beverly." He paused. "To Eddie."

"I will." A tear streamed down his face. "I j-just wish he was here."

Richie knew how much Eddie's friendship meant to Bill, and that's why he forgave him. He walked towards him with his arms open then wrapping them around him in a hug. "You're such a fucking bitch," Richie mumbled.

Bill hugged back and let out a muffled laugh.

"Listen, this is all heartwarming and shit, and I'm still kinda mad, but..." He let go of Bill and walked past him, simultaneously pushing him into his house. He pointed up the stairs where Stan was and said, "Go get 'em tiger." Richie shut the door in his face and got going. He first went into his garage and pulled his bike out. It was covered with spider webs, which he kicked off the best he could. Richie hadn't ridden it in a while, but it was faster than on foot.

He got on the bike and starting riding into town. He was planning to go to the Aladdin to see Mr. Edgecomb. Richie thought that maybe he could help. He passed Beverly and Ben's house, wondering if he should stop and knock on their doors to see if they would come with. He decided to just keep going.

When he finally got into town he looked a telephone poll they had put a missing poster on a few days prior. The paper looked as if someone had ripped it off. The four corners were still stuck to the wood under their staplers. Maybe it had been an accident. He walked his bike a few buildings down to another pole that they had stuck a poster to. It was ripped off as well. Richie cursed out loud, irritated that someone would do that. He instantly thought of Henry and Patrick. He was almost sure that they had done it.

Richie kept moving and finally got to the Aladdin. He walked his bike into the alley, hiding it behind a dumpster, then walked back to the front of the building. He stepped in, eyeing the long line for tickets. Mr. Edgecomb was there, much to Richie's relief. He didn't even know what he was going to say to him, but he was glad he was there. Maybe he could figure out something else to do than just aimlessly wander around town all day. Richie wasn't sure what to do at that point. They had put up posters, contacted the police, and searched for hours. None of it had worked though. He felt completely helpless. All he wanted was for Eddie to be safe. Was that too much to ask for? Richie would give up anything and everything for Eddie, which some people might say is a bad thing, but it didn't matter. It was true.

He felt a tap on his right shoulder, and turned around to see Bill, Ben, Mike, Stan and Bev standing there. He stared at them, not saying a word.  
  
Mike started. "Listen, Rich-"  
  
"I know, I know, you're sorry and blah blah blah. Whatever. Just know that when we find Eddie you are all going to apologize. Not to me, to him, bec-" He was suddenly aware of the pain in his chest. It had been there ever since Eddie had gone missing. He had forgotten all about it because it was so small he barely noticed it. But the pain was getting worse.  
  
"Richie?" Beverly said.  
  
"Because-" He lifted a hand to his chest and tapped it a few times. His breathing had gotten much faster. "I don't... My heart hearts."  
  
"Are you okay?" Someone's voice asked.   
  
He wasn't sure who was talking at that point, only aware of this strange feeling. Someone had joined the group, presumably Mr. Edgecomb who had seen the commotion. All he could think about was Eddie. The left side of his face felt tingly. Then in the blink of an eye it all stopped.  
  
Stan's voice entered his ears. "-you alright? Richie!"

"Should I call someone?" Ben asked.

Bill nodded frantically. "Y-y-yes-"

"No," Richie said panting. He felt as if he had just ran a marathon. He put up his hand and waved it around. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure, son?" Mr. Edgecomb asked.

"Mmhm." He leaned down and put his hands on his knees, still out of breath.

"Uh, what just happened?" Ben asked. He had a hand on Richie's shoulder.

"I don't know."

"Come on back behind the register, I'll get you some water," Mr. Edgecomb said.

So they followed him to where all the snacks and drinks were and he handed Richie a water. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any money on me," Richie said.

"That's quite alright, it's on the house."

Bill made a confused face and looked around. "Oh right," Beverly said. "Guys this is Mr. Edgecomb, and Mr. Edgecomb this is Mike, Bill and Stan. And you've seen Ben, but I don't think you've officially met." She paused. "My bad, we haven't even told you ours. I'm Beverly and that's Richie."

Richie watched Beverly as she talked, noticing the fake smile on her face right away. A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Well it's nice to meet y'all."

"You t-too," Bill said.

Richie was surprised that he had said anything. With Bill's past with adults, he thought he would act angered towards Mr. Edgecomb. He must've realized that he was actually a good person. But even Richie wasn't sure if that was true yet, this was only the second time they had ever talked to him.

"So I'm guessin' you haven't found that boy yet, have ya?"

Richie shook his head. He looked down at the bottle of water in his hands. It was sweating and dripping onto the floor. He gripped the cap, turning it, but his fingers were too slippery. He tried again, but it still wouldn't open. He felt extremely irritated. Richie wiped his right hand on his shirt and gripped the bottle again. His eyebrows furrowed as he twisted it over and over.

"Here," Ben said and held out his hand.

"I can do it myself," Richie snapped. He took the hem of his shirt and wiped off the cap, but it was no use. His glasses hung low on his nose.

"Here, Rich," Bev started. "Let me get it for you."

"Jesus, can't anyone mind their business? I said I can do it myself."

Mr. Edgecomb had gone back to selling people tickets. Richie's friends were all staring at him.

"Richie. We're just trying to help," Stan said calmly.

Richie slammed the water bottle on the counter, and stuck his face in his hands. He breathed in and out again and again, trying to calm down. "I know. It's just... I'm just really frustrated right now."

He felt someone wrap their arms around him. He returned the gesture and opened his eyes to find Beverly hugging him. Mike joined, then Ben, Bill, and finally Stan, who wasn't the biggest fan of hugs, but joined in anyway.

Richie let a tear fall down his cheek.

After a while, they separated, no one with a dry eye. Richie smiled sadly at all of them. They were all broken, in a way. But it was kind of perfect. All of their broken pieces fit together, maybe not exactly sometimes. Maybe their pieces fell apart once and a while, but Richie had a feeling that when Eddie was back, they would never fall apart again.

Bill started to say something, but a noise stopped them all. Richie reached in his pocket, grabbing his phone. Someone had texted him. The losers all crowded around the phone, looking at the message.

 

Eddie Spaghetti: _Basement_


	8. Lights Off Until Morning

Richie gave him one last kiss before pulling away. "See ya tomorrow, Babe," he said.

"Bye, Baby," Eddie said softly. He opened the door and stepped inside, looking at his boyfriend's once more before closing it. He stood there for a moment, a blush creeping to his cheeks. He could still feel Richie's mouth pressed against his own. Eddie reached up to brush his fingers against his lips. He smiled.

He started towards the kitchen, seeing his mother start the dishes. "I could've done that for you, Mom," he said as he walked next to the table. He noticed a glass of water sitting there. Whenever he got back from hanging out with his friends, she would always do that give him water. He didn't know why.

She acknowledged him with a low hum in the back of her throat. The dishes clinked as she continued.  "I set a glass of water on the table for you."

"Thanks," he said. Eddie was confused on why she was being so quiet. Usually when he got back home she would talk his ear off, asking where he and been and who he was with. He rolled his eyes and picked up the glass, guessing she was angry at him for something again. Eddie headed to his room, feeling happier than usual. He closed his door when he got inside and set the water on his desk, after taking a sip. He decided to pull the shoe box from under his bed and look through it.  It was hidden all the way in the corner, because he was afraid his mother would find it and throw it out.

Eddie delicately carried it to his desk, then sat down. He flicked his lamp on and took the lid of the box off. He took a few big gulps of his water, then set it far away from the box, so not to spill it on anything. Eddie smiled as he pulled some photos out. The first was a polaroid of Richie. Eddie had taken it when Richie had come over to his house a few months prior. In the photo the tall boy had a wide smile on his face and reddened cheeks. His hair was all mussed up and tangled because they may or may not have made out right before the picture was taken. Eddie giggled at the memory. He remembered exactly how the conversation went.

_"Richie, why do you look fucking wasted?" he asked, showing his boyfriend the polaroid._

_Richie laughed and said, "I'm drunk on love, Spaghetti."_

Eddie absentmindedly chugged more water. Soon he was finished with it, and setting the glass back on the desk. He looked through a few more pictures, feeling more tired by the moment. Eddie wasn't sure why he had gotten so sleepy all of the sudden, but he decided to hurry up and put his glass back in the kitchen before he fell asleep at his desk. He put the picture of Richie in his hoodie pocket, because he didn't want to leave it out. He could've put it back in the box, but he would do it when he got back. Eddie got up, swaying a bit and grabbed the glass. He sauntered out of his room and into the hall. His eyes kept fluttering shut for some reason. It wasn't tiredness, he realized, it was something that was forcing him to fall asleep, and fast. He tripped a little, and held himself up by placing his free hand on the wall. Eddie shook his head, breaking a little bit out of the sleepiness. He forced himself to continue to the kitchen.

Every step he took, he thought he would tumble to the ground. He couldn't even think straight. When he got to the kitchen, he stopped at the counter, looking into the living room, where his mother sat in her recliner and stared at him. The look on her face was not worried, it was something Eddie couldn't decipher. He felt his eyes begin to close and he thought,  _Is this what it feels like to die? Am I dying? Please, I don't want to-_

And then he fell to the floor, pulling the glass down with him. It crashed to the ground, shattering and throwing shards everywhere. Everything went black.

 

Eddie woke up feeling groggy. He was confused as he opened his eyes. He was in a room, just bigger than the size of a small bathroom. The floor was concreted and the walls were brick, painted white. A box sat in the corner of the room, a lid on top. Eddie suddenly remembered what had happened. The water, the tiredness, the look on his mother's face, the shards of glass. He tried to stand, but was held back. Eddie looked down at his wrist which was handcuffed to a metal pipe in the wall next to him. He started panicking, pulling his hand towards himself but quickly stopped because the cuffs became a little tighter. His breathing picked up and let out a small noise in his throat. He carefully stood up, holding his wrist down towards the ground and reached out towards the door with his other hand. He couldn't grab it. There was about two feet of space between his fingers and the doorknob. He let his hand fall to his side. ""Help!" he yelled. "Somebody, help!" he screamed. He tried not to cry, but he was so scared. Tears welled up in his eyes as he tried to yell out again, but it only came as a whisper. "Help me."

He suddenly remembered his phone in his pocket. He pulled it out frantically turned it on, and typed in his password. A soft thumping sound came from above him. Footsteps. Whoever was up there had heard him shouting. Something told him it wasn't someone who wanted to help.

He didn't have time to call the police so he did the next best thing. It was probably even more wise than calling the cops. He texted Richie.

The steps were getting louder and louder, so he just typed out the first thing he thought of.  _I don't know where I am._ Eddie started shaking, almost missing the buttons when he tried to press on them.

Just as he sent the text he realized his phone didn't have good reception. " _No_ ," he said, frustrated. He prayed it would say,  _message sent_ , instead of,  _not delivered_.

The door sprang open. Eddie's head flicked up, meeting the person's eyes.

_His mother's_ eyes.

"Mom?" he said, confused.

She looked down at his hands. "Give me that," she said, gesturing towards his phone.

He quickly shut it off, hoping the text would send, then pulled it closer to his chest. He shook his head. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Just give me the phone and I'll tell you everything, Eddie-Bear."

Eddie looked back down at the handcuffs attached to his wrist. "Did you do this?" He paused, eyes widening. He looked back up at her. "Did you _drug_ me?" 

His mom took a few loud steps forward, and gripped the phone in his hand. He looked up, seeing her furious eyes and quickly let go. He was suddenly terrified of her.

She took a few steps back, holding it in her hand and staring at him, looking disappointed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't I tell you what?" he asked, his voice quivering.

"That that boy made you sick. We could've helped you a long time ago. Now you've given me no choice."

"Are you talking about Richie? I already told you I'm gay. He didn't do that to me-"

"We'll fix you, Eddie-Bear, don't worry. You'll forget all about your little friend," she said, a menacing glint in her eye.

"He's not just my friend," he said. A tear had fallen down his cheek as he gave another tug to the handcuff. "We're dating."

She gave a pity-smile. "Oh, Eddie. We have so much work to do."

"What are you gonna do to me?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Mom?"

She shook her head. "Now that's not my name, is it?"

He furrowed his brow, confused. Then he suddenly got it. He got a sick feeling in his stomach. He mumbled under his breath.

"Now you know I can't hear you when you mumble, Dear. Speak up."

"What are you gonna do to me, Mama?"

"What I need to do," she said.

A ding came from Eddie's phone. He reached out for it. His mother stared at him. "Let me see," he pleaded.

"Who is it?"

"Please, Mama, just let me see it."

"Who is it?" she yelled.

Eddie squished himself up against the wall. He felt another tear leak from his eye. "It's no one, please... Just let me see-"

"It's that Tozier boy isn't it?" she said loudly.

"Why the  _fuck_ do you care?" he yelled.

Another ding came from his phone.

"Lights off until morning," she said.

"What?'

She didn't say anything else, just flipped the switch on the other side of the room and walked out.

"Mama!" he cried out. "No, please, I'm sorry-I'm sorry-"

She slammed the door closed, presumably locking it.

There was no sound, no light. He lifted his free hand to his face and couldn't even see it. Eddie slipped down against the wall letting out a sob. He hated when there was absolutely no sound. She knew that. When Richie snuck into his room on most nights, his sang softly until Eddie fell asleep, or just talked to him about his day.

He couldn't believe what was happening. How did she come to this? It had all started by giving him placebo pills when he was younger, lying to him about illnesses he didn't have. He still had scars from those times. One was that he was still a germophobe, he couldn't help worrying about his health. It stopped him from doing normal everyday things. What would _this_ experience cause? How long would she keep him down here? Where even was he? Eddie couldn't tell. It must be part of his house, but he had never seen it before.

Eddie felt a chill go down his spine as he thought about their conversation. She had made him call her mama, like he did when he was little. He wondered how far she would go with this whole thing. She wanted Eddie to be someone who he wasn't. She wanted him to always rely on her, because he wasn't strong enough according to her. But he was growing up. He can't stay little forever. Eddie already felt like he was an adult, he lived in a town that didn't care about your mistakes. A town where murders happened all the time, and you just had to get used to it. A thought flashed through his mind. His mom was capable of murdering him and no one would know. With that look in her eye he saw earlier, he knew she could do it.

He sobbed loudly, mumbling things he didn't even understand himself. He brought his hand up to his nose. His boyfriend's sweatshirt hung all the way past his hands. Eddie smelled the sleeve, the scent of Richie filling his nostrils. In an instant he stopped sobbing. He placed his hand close to his heart and knew Richie would be looking for him. He hoped the text he had sent was clear enough.

Eddie scooted to the corner of the room, having just enough space to do so. It was more comfortable like that. More tears dripped down his face, but he didn't wipe them away. He just let them fall quietly.

 


	9. Real Love Doesn't Have Any Rules

Eddie didn't sleep at all during the night. There wasn't enough room to lay down, since he was so close to the wall and he couldn't move over that much. He remembered a while back he had heard about those experiments where they put people in rooms for forty-eight hours. No sound, no vision, no human contact. Was that what she was doing? He didn't know how many hours he had been there already, but he didn't want to do it anymore. Everyone once in awhile there was a noise from upstairs, but he didn't know if they were in his head or not. At one point he even thought he heard quiet footsteps, but his mother would surely be asleep at that point, right? No one else would be walking up there.

He decided to start screaming. If he couldn't sleep then she couldn't either. "Mama!" he yelled. " _Mama!_ "

Eddie then decided he wasn't go going to give up that easy. He wasn't going to give up on himself. He grit his teeth then shouted, "Mom!" Eddie turned a little and started stomping on the walls, hoping he was keeping her up. If she wanted him to stay a little kid and not grow up, then he would act like one. He started yelling louder, making as much noise as he could, basically having a tantrum. He started calling out Richie's name, just to make her mad. "Richie!" But soon, he actually called for him. " _Richie."_ he pleaded.

He had finally stopped after a while, his throat burning. Eddie guessed it was around an hour after that, she had come back down. She opened the door, turning on the light when she stepped in. He brought his free hand over his eyes to block out the brightness. Then he heard a clink and peeked through his fingers to see a plate in front of him. On it there was one single piece of toast. He looked up at his mother. "What is this?" he asked, voice rough.

"Breakfast."

"One piece of toast?"

"Next time you scream all night, there won't be anything on that plate," she said, her voice surprisingly sweet.

Eddie pushed it away from him with his foot, towards her. "Don't want it anyway," he said angrily.

She started to say something, but they both looked up because a faint knock could be heard from upstairs. His mother's face twisted into hatred, her eyebrows furrowing intensely.

Eddie pulled on the handcuff again, desperately wanting to go see the person was at the door. He knew exactly who it was.

"I'll be back," she mumbled.

"They'll find me," he burst out.

His mother turned to look at him.

"No matter how long it takes, they won't stop searching."

"Well they'll never find you. Don't you get it? I'm trying to do what's best for you, Honey," she said and started to close the door.

"I want to see him," he said, loudly. "You can't do this to me!"

She left, closing and locking the door, and Eddie could hear her footsteps going up the stairs. He tried to yell, to get Richie's attention, but he wasn't very loud because his throat was raw from shouting too much. He fought back tears.  _I will not cry_ , he told himself. 

A minute or two went by before Eddie heard the door slam, making him jump. He reached over to the plate, grabbing it and holding it over his shoulder. The piece of toast had fallen to the ground, but it didn't matter. The footsteps returned to outside of the door. He heard the click of the door unlocking, and then watched as it opened. Eddie didn't waste any time, anger boiling up inside him. He chucked the plate at the door, making it shatter instantly and crash to the floor. Eddie wasn't scared anymore. His mother would never hurt him, he realized. In her mind, what she was doing, was the right thing. She was 'protecting' him. If he showed how much he didn't want this, maybe, just maybe, she would let him go. But he would not put up with her shit in the process either.

His mother stepped in slowly, glass crunching under her shoes. Her face was stony. "I'm heading to the store," is all she said, and left.

An hour after she was gone, Eddie was trying to unlock his cuffs. He had tried to use a thin piece of glass that had slid over to him from breaking the plate, but just ended up cutting the pad of his finger. He didn't want to wipe it on his clothes, so tried to think of what else to do. He held his finger away from himself, just letting it drip a few times onto the concrete next to him. Eddie tipped his head back, letting it rest on the wall. He was tired, weak from just yelling and struggling. His eyes started closing, but he heard the faint noise of another knock. He jolted up. He thought he could hear someone calling his name. "Help!" he yelled, as loud as he could without hurting his throat. "I'm down here! It's Eddie!"

There was a silence for awhile, indicating whoever it was was gone.

 

He did not eat the rest of the day. When his mother had gotten back she had brought him lunch, and then dinner, both on paper plates. He threw them at the door again anyway, painting the wood with food. She turned the lights off again that night, and when morning came she left them off for most of the day. He felt like he was going crazy. He never knew what time it was or how long he had been there. On a certain day, or night, he asked his mother something. "Are you punishing me?"

"I thought that was obvious."

"You're punishing me for loving him?"

Her face had a disgusted expression on it. "You can't love him, and he can't love you," she spat.

He looked up at her without an emotion on his face. "Real love doesn't have any rules."

After that he didn't say anything else to her about his relationship, not because he didn't like the way he talked about him, but because of the way she talked about Richie.

His mother had started acting different, less caring. She didn't visit him as much as she did on days prior, and he wanted that to be a good thing, but he yearned for human contact. He yearned to have a conversation with Bill, go to lunch with Mike, write a story with Georgie, go shopping with Bev, listen to music with Ben, play a board game with Stan, and to just be with Richie. He needed to be with Richie.

Whenever Eddie had to go to the bathroom she put a blindfold on him, and then handcuffed their wrists together. The first time he stood up, his legs gave out on him and he fell to the ground. After Sonia had pulled him to his feet, they walked up the stairs to the bathroom. She stood on the outside of the opened door, while he did his business. He felt so extremely humiliated every time, he would wait to go to the bathroom for hours until he couldn't take it anymore and told her. He also had to eventually eat and drink water, even though he didn't want to. Whenever he would eat, his mother would smile and his stomach would twist into knots. 

Eddie's wrist had started to turn red, the handcuffs just seemed to be getting tighter and tighter. He was scared he might loose feeling of his fingers. There was still glass on the floor, and food on the door. She didn't bother to clean any of it up. He had started to smell it and had gagged a few times, almost throwing up. He could even smell himself. Some nights were so hot he couldn't stop sweating, and some were so cold he couldn't stop shivering. Eddie hadn't taken a shower in so long. He started having a panic attack once, he felt absolutely disgusting, and his mother brought him his inhaler insisting it was his asthma. He used it anyway, and it tricked his mind once again.

When she had left Eddie reached in Richie's sweatshirt pocket, feeling something. He pulled it out, realizing it was the polaroid of Richie he had stuck in there however long ago. As soon as he saw it, he burst into tears. He hugged it against his heart, like it was actually Richie he was embracing. He pulled his knees up, holding the photo against his thighs and just stared. He had realized that his boyfriend wasn't looking into the camera, no, he was looking at the person taking the picture, Eddie. He wondered if Richie knew how much he loved him. His eyes widened. They hadn't said they loved each other before he had gone missing. What if he thought Eddie had run away and didn't love him anymore? "No," Eddie whispered, tears dripping onto his clothes. " _No_." He tried to lightly press his lips to the photo, but stopped, feeling guilty. He  then slid it back in his pocket. Eddie couldn't look at Richie and think about those things.

It was strange, he felt a pressure in his chest, where his heart was. It been there for a long time, getting more or less intense, but never completely stopping. His hand had gotten tingly at one point too for some reason, but only for about ten minutes.

It was the next day, Eddie presumed. Sonia came down, and he said he needed to go to the bathroom. She looked angered at that, but took him up anyway. When he was up there, he tilted his head up just a little, seeing just under the blindfold. There, on the counter in the kitchen, was his phone. And it was plugged in. He wondered why. After he had went to the bathroom, Sonia lead him back to the basement. She made the mistake of going first. As they went past, he slipped his phone from the charger quietly and stuck it in his sweatshirt pocket quickly, all while walking.

They made it back to the basement, Eddie being handcuffed back to the metal pipe. This was it. He could finally get out. That's why Eddie didn't care about what he said to her then. "When are you letting me out?" he asked, his voice quiet and broken.

"I don't know, Eddie-Bear," she said, her tone sounding irritated.

"How could you not know? What is there left to do?"

"What's left to do is for you to learn that I'm what's best for you. Not those friends of yours, not that boy. I love you more than anyone will ever love you," she said.

His fists tightened immediately and he let out a laugh.

She tilted her head slightly to the side like a dog and said, "Why're you laughing?"

 _Richie loves me more than you could ever love me_ , he thought. "It's just funny you think this is love," he responded, sadly.

"It is love, Eddie."

He shook his head slowly, "No, Mom. It's not."

"What, do you still think whatever feelings you have toward that Tozier boy are real? You have a sickness, Eddie. I'm trying to fix you," she responded.

He finally snapped, pulling the handcuffs roughly as he started to scream at her. "When I get the fuck out of here he's the first person I'll go to. And he'll be waiting, looking for me." A tear ran down his cheek slowly. "And if you don't call that love, I don't know what is."

A hand came down, meeting with his cheek, feeling more like a brick than a hand. For the first time, he felt truly scared. Not going crazy in the dark, or having anxiety because there's no noise at all. Absolutely terrified. He suddenly remembered the revolver she kept in her dresser,  _to keep us safe Eddie-Bear_ , she said.

"You will not speak to your mother that way," she yelled, eyes no longer caring but psychotic. She looked pleased with what she had done. She stepped over to the light switch like she had done many times before, and flicked it off. She slammed the door behind her, leaving a shaking Eddie behind her in the dark.

He sat there stunned, face burning. He stared off into the blackness for minutes, or hours, he didn't know. Eventually he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had forty-nine missed texts, and twenty-seven missed calls. He opened his messages from Richie, not looking at them because he knew he would start crying again, and sent Richie a quick text, in case his mother came back.  _Basement_. 

 

 

 


	10. Do You Feel That Too?

Richie looked up in disbelief at his friends. Everyone had their mouths hung open in awe. Beverly had a hand over her heart and began smiling. "It's him," she breathed out.

Richie's eyes were permanently widened, still unbelieving. He felt his breath catch in his throat and tears well up in his eyes as he fully grasped what was going on. "Basement, what-what does basement mean?" he choked out.

"H-his, basement," Bill said, looking frightened.

"His mom," Stan said. "It's his mom."

"Well. let's go," Richie decided, taking a few steps forward.

Mike set a hand on his chest and stopped him. "We can't just walk in there," he said.

"Like hell we can't!" 

"If she's keeping Eddie there then she must be dangerous, if she wasn't he would've escaped already, don't you think?" Mike asked.

"Maybe," Stan said.

Ben nodded. "We need to come up with a plan."

 

They were standing down the street from Eddie's house, out of view.  _He's right there_ , Richie thought.  _This whole time he's been right there_. Richie thought back to when this had all started. He had went inside that house, he had looked around. But why would Eddie have have been there? It would be crazy if he was just hidden in the house or something. Absolutely crazy.

Right then, as he tapped his foot incessantly on the pavement, all he wanted to do was run in there and get him. He hated the thought of Eddie being trapped in that house with that vile woman. There is absolutely no reason for him to be locked up there. Eddie should be with them. Richie had always wanted him to pack up and leave, but it wasn't his place to tell that to him.

Richie missed Eddie so much. He missed sneaking in to his room in the middle of the night and Eddie scolding him for coming over because, 'it's too late, Richie, I'm trying to sleep,' a smile on his face contradicting his words. He missed watching Eddie play with Georgie whenever they went over to Bill's house because, damn, that's just too cute. The way he's always so caring towards that little boy, and everyone else he talks to. He knows when to act nice and when to act snarky without actually being rude. It's funny to hear, but Richie missed his little nose and his little hands, that were always so delicate. His soft hair and his doe eyes. Those eyes could convey so much. Whether it be sadness or anger, anything really, it was beautiful. Every part of Eddie was beautiful.

"What about you, Rich?" Bev said.

"Huh?"

Stan let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "Do you want to be the one who goes in there?"

Richie nodded instantly.

Ben craned his neck to see around a few trees in the way of the house. "Looks like Sonia's there. Maybe we should wait until she-"

Richie started to disagree, but Bill got to it first. "N-no. We can't leave him in there any l-longer." He looked to Richie and gave him a nod.

"You have your phone, Richie?" Mike asked.

He reached to feel inside his back pocket. "Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, so I'll go through the window and I'll text someone if anything happens."

"I've got my phone on me," Beverly said. "You can text me."

"Okay."

They had started walking again, without saying anything. What were they supposed to say? 'Come on guys, let's all go save Eddie?' No, this wasn't some game. This was real life. Eddie was in danger and they were going to help.

As they drew closer to Eddie's house they walked through the grass, so no one could see them from the living room window. Richie checked the time on his phone, seeing that it was already five o'clock. He had slept all the way into the afternoon, he realized.

He contemplated texting Eddie back, but assumed that he wasn't supposed to have his phone and would get caught if it went off.

They got to the window and stood, all staring at Richie.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Mike asked him.

"I'm sure," he said. He took a step forward and grabbed onto the window.

Beverly set a hand on his arm. "Be careful, okay?"

"I'm always careful Miss Marsh. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to me," he said, realizing he sounded like his old self a little bit more. He knew Eddie was safe, so that's presumably why said it.

Bev gave a sad smile and took her hand away.

Richie opened the window slowly and threw his leg in. He gave one last look to his friends and then got inside fully, closing the window behind him. The first thing he noticed was that the shoe box that was on Eddie's desk was gone. So was everything else on his desk, and in his closet, which was open. Everything was cleared out. His brow furrowed, but he kept going.

He opened the door slowly, checking both ways for Eddie's mom before entering the hallway. He heard the television on, probably playing some soap opera. Richie made sure to step lightly, so to not make the floorboards creek. When he got to the end of the hall he peeked around, and there she was. Sonia was sitting there on her recliner, watching TV. He whipped his head back, out of view. The kitchen was on the way to the basement door, which Sonia could see perfectly from where she was. He thought for a moment about what to do. Richie took his phone out of his pocket and started typing.

Trashmouth:  _I need a distraction_

Red:  _What kind of distraction?_

Trashmouth:  _Idk_

Trashmouth: _She's sitting in her fuckng chair_

Trashmouth:  _If I go now she'll see me_

Red:  _Got it_

He slipped his phone back in his pocket and waited for something to happen. Almost immediately there was a knock on the door. About thirty seconds went by and Sonia didn't get up. A louder knock came this time, and with a groan she stood and headed for the door. She opened it up.

Richie walked fast, but quietly behind her, seeing everyone else standing out there. Beverly met eyes with him, but diverted her attention back to Eddie's mom. He looked away and went through the kitchen then got to the basement door. He gripped the door handle and tuned it as carefully as he could. As soon as he had it open he slipped inside and shut it. Richie wasted no time stepping down the stairs, anticipation building in his gut, each step he was taking he went faster. He wanted to get to Eddie.

He jumped down the last three steps, and barreled into the main basement area. There were a lot of boxes, all labeled. He noticed one box said 'Frank' on it. Richie had never actually been in Eddie's basement, he realized. It looked like someone would expect a basement to look like, only one that was hiding a dark secret. "Eddie," he whisper-yelled. There was a long silence. "Eddie?" he said a little louder.

This time there was no silence, just one muffled word. "Richie?"

Richie's eyes burned with tears. "Keep talking, Baby, so I can find you."

"I'm in here. " Richie thought he sounded like he was crying.

He followed his voice, which lead him to the laundry room. His eyes darted around. He felt his phone in his pocket vibrate twice, but ignored it. He noticed a curtain, just hanging there. Richie grasped it and pulled it back. There was a door there that had a chain lock on it with barrel bolt lock under the first one.

"Richie," his voice came from the other side of the door.

His phone vibrated again. "I'm right here, Eds. Hold on." Richie took a step forward, grabbing the first lock between his fingers. He slid it open, then went down and slid the second one open, and then

 

he tugged on his handcuff, itching to remove it. A tear rolled down his cheek because, Richie was there. _He's here and I get to see him and I'm so happy and_ -

The door opened. There Richie stood, eyes full of tears. His mouth was parted, eyes traveling around the room, before finally looking at Eddie.

Eddie smiled. "You're here-"

He noticed the curtain behind Richie move, a shadow passing by it. His smile slipped from his face.

"What's wrong?" Richie asked, turning around.

A large boom rang out, echoing against the walls of the room. Eddie brought his free hand to one of his ringing ears, wincing because of how loud the noise was. His chest felt like he had gotten stabbed, it was worse than any pain he had ever felt. His eyes flicked up to Richie, who was staggering away from the door. He crashed to the ground, landing on his back.

Sonia was standing there, revolver in hand.

" _No_ _!_ " Eddie screamed, scrambling as close to Richie as he could. Pulling on the handcuffs so hard he thought they might actually break.

"Eddie-Bear, get away from him-"

"Richie! Richie oh my God, please-"

A stain spread across the front of Richie's shirt, staining the white to a deep red. "Eds," he said, "It hurts," he choked out.

"I-I don't know what to do," he cried. Eddie tentatively raised his hand to Richie's chest, covering the gunshot wound. He pushed down, putting pressure on it. Eddie had seen it been done in a few movies, so he thought it might work. 

Richie's head jerked in pain, and he let out a noise.

Eddie winced and ripped his eyes from Richie to his mother's face. " _Why the fuck did you do that? What are you doing?_ " he screamed.

Her eyes were widened in shock, flicking around. "Eddie-"

" _I hate you! Do you hear me? I fucking hate you, you piece of shit-_ "

Beverly and Mike rushed into view, blocking Sonia from entering the room. Eddie saw other figures behind her but couldn't make out who they were because of the tears flooding his eyes.

"Eds," Richie whispered.

He looked down at Richie's face, and let out a sob. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I love you, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't worry," he said quietly, eyebrows furrowed in pain. "It's just a flesh wound," Richie said, gritting his teeth.

Eddie let out a sob and smiled at Richie, tears dripping onto his shirt. 

Richie gave a smile and reached up to touch Eddie's cheek. "Beautiful," he whispered. His eyes were getting droopy.

Eddie made sure he was still keeping pressure on the wound. He was trying to reach with his other hand, but the handcuffs were still on. "Richie, Richie you have to stay awake. Stay awake for me, okay?"

A tear leaked out of the corner of Richie's eye. "Don't think I can," he said, and let out a chuckle. "Jesus, I'm really fucked up, Eds. I can't even feel it anymore. Can't feel anything."

"It's okay, that's okay, just don't close your eyes." He looked up at Ben who was standing in the doorway. It looked like behind him something was happening, but he didn't pay attention. "Call the police," he sobbed.

Ben nodded. "We did. They're gonna be here any minute, Eddie. It's going to be-"

"They need to be here now!" he yelled and looked down.

Richie's eyes were slowly closing.

"No, no, no, Richie please, stop!"

Richie reached up again, but put his hand against Eddie's chest where his heart is instead of his cheek, and kept it there. "Do you feel that too?" he asked.

He did. Eddie's heart hurt, just like how it did the whole time he was missing, and when Richie had gotten shot it had gotten even worse. "Yes," he answered simply.

Richie nodded, then his hand slipped down the front of Eddie's shirt, and his eyes closed fully.

Sobs racked Eddie's body, and he looked up to see cops and paramedics rushing in.

Stan ran in, a small key in his hand. "I've got the key," he said loudly.

 _What key_ _?_ Eddie thought. He finally paid attention to all the blood. Richie's blood, covering his chest and the floor and Eddie's hand. He was starting to feel light headed, unsure exactly why. The blood? The feeling in his chest? Richie lying there not moving? He looked back at Stan who had unlocked the handcuff. His wrist had blood dripping off of it, the metal had dug into his skin from all the pulling.

"Eddie! Don't pass out, everything's okay-"

But Eddie's eyes had already closed, and he soon drooped down to the floor.


	11. Every Day

Eddie woke with a jerk. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a hospital room? He blinked a few times, assessing the situation. Had his mother brought him to the doctors again? Maybe she thought he was sick again... Oh, right. The memories flooded back into his mind. He looked at his wrist, which was wrapped up. An iv was in his other arm. He cringed at the feeling of it. His chest and his head ached as he sat up.

"E-Eddie?" he heard.

He looked up to see Bill sitting in the chair next to him.

"Hey," he said, voice gravely. "Where's everyone?"

Something flashed in Bill's eyes. "Ben w-went to get everyone s-some snacks. Everyone else is..."

"What?"

Bill looked into his eyes.

Eddie's own eyes widened as he sat up even higher, remembering what he wished was a nightmare. He looked down at the iv in his arm and started pulling the tape off. "Get me some cotton pads or something," he said.

"N-no, Eddie, you're dehydrated. You need t-to just wait," Bill pleaded.

"I've waited fucking long enough," he said, eyes getting watery. "Just get me tape and some cotton pads." Eddie wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Bill seemed to notice this and stood up. He rummaged through some drawers. 

Eddie peeled the tape off all the way, wincing in the process, and then stuck it to the side of the hospital bed.

Bill walked back over. "Are the-these okay?"

Eddie nodded. He took the surgical tape and ripped a piece of, holding it in his left hand. "Can you fold the pad up a few times and hold it right here, tight?" He pointed at where the iv was inserted in his arm.

Bill took a moment to answer. "Alright. How do you even know how t-to do this?" he asked.

"A lot of practice," he answered as Bill was folding the cotton.

Bill leaned down and held it where he was told.

Eddie carefully removed the iv, then taped the pad down as fast as he could as Bill removed his hands. He rubbed his hand over it a few times, making sure the tape was flat. Then he got off of the bed, placing his feet on the floor. He let out a noise, body aching.

Bill ran to his side. "Are you okay?"

"'M fine," he said. "What's his room number?"

"Eddie-"

"What's his room number?"

Bill scratched his head. "He hasn't woken up yet, we don't know if..."

"Please."

Bill looked saddened, but he complied. "Room two-fourteen."

"Thank you." Eddie walked up to him, and enveloped Bill in a hug. "I missed you by the way."

He hugged back. "Missed you t-too." They pulled away, Bill smiling at him. "Now go before the nurse comes in and yells at me for helping you es-escape. I'm gonna go find Ben."

Eddie nodded, a smile creeping up. He walked out, face immediately dropping. He looked at his room number, seeing  **315** was written. He was on a floor up from where he needed to be. So Eddie started going, not by walking, but by running. His legs hurt, but he kept going.

 

Richie woke, wincing. His hand reached up to his chest. He was wearing a hospital gown and had the weird thought of,  _Someone I don't know changed me into this and that's kind of weird._

"Richie!" he heard.

He looked to his right, seeing Beverly, Mike and Stanley sitting there. "What the fuck..." he mumbled.

All three stood up, Beverly rushing over to him, tears in her eyes. "Oh my God, we thought you wouldn't wake up."

He suddenly remembered everything. He started to pull the tape on his iv off.

"Richie!" Stan yelled. He put his hand over Richie's arm. "You can't do that, you were shot."

He cleared his throat. "Did they do surgery?"

"The bullet went right through. Somehow missed all of your vital organs," Mike said.

"Lucky bastard," Stan said, smiling.

Richie slapped his hand away and continued taking the iv out of his arm.

"Richie, stop," Beverly said.

Richie shook his head, pulling it out all the way. Blood gushed out, all three of his friends letting out noises of disgust or distress, Richie couldn't tell which. "Where is he?" He pressed his palm against the wound.

They all looked at each other. Mike spoke first, "We can't tell you. You have to rest."

Richie swung his legs over the bed, wincing. He got up, holding the gown closed behind him. A little blood trickled down his arm, not enough to stop him.

"C'mon, Rich. Just wait," Mike said.

He turned around and looked at all of them. "I've waited for almost two weeks." He smiled. "Eddie's here." He let out a little breathy chuckle. "And I'm alive. so... Don't see why I'm here right now."

Stan rolled he's eyes. "Whatever. Just let him go."

Beverly and Mike sighed, but didn't say anything. Richie saluted them and went out into the hall. He looked both ways, not knowing which to go. He decided to just go right. The tiles were cold under his feet and his chest hurt like hell, but he picked up his pace, almost running at that point.  _Why am I already crying_ _?_ he asked himself as he felt his eyes sting, a feeling he had memorized.

A nurse looked at him as he went past, trying to say something, but Richie kept going. His eyes flicked behind him a few times thinking Eddie might be there. The blood from his arm dripped on the ground a few times, but eventually stopped. He wasn't sure where he was in the hospital and it was angering him. All he wanted to do was see Eddie. He wanted to hug him and kiss him and-

He turned the corner and saw someone speeding out of the elevator. He stopped in his tracks.

Eddie.

Eddie had also stopped, and they met eyes. It was like in the movies where everything is in slow motion, until the shorter boy let out a sob and barreled towards him. Richie took a few steps before they were in each other's arms. He realized the pain in his heart had completely gone away, even though his actual gunshot wound ached. Tears already made their way down his face. He lifted Eddie off of the ground and inch or two, swaying back and forth. The only sounds in the hallway were their sobs.

He could feels Eddie's small hands tugging Richie impossibly closer to him. "I'm sorry, Richie, it's my fault you-"

Richie let out a muffled laugh, that was more of a sob. "Fuck that. It wasn't your fault, Baby. I'm just glad your here."

Eddie nodded into his shoulder. They pulled away, Richie grabbing Eddie's face and looking into his eyes. The sight of him crying made him cry even harder. They both moved forward, their lips meeting softly. Richie then kissed all over his face, his cheeks, his chin, his eyelids. Eddie let out a sad noise and pulled away, wrapping himself around Richie once again. He held the back of his head, feeling Eddie's tears wet his hospital gown. Richie's own tears just kept dripping, so much so that didn't think they were ever going to stop. They both sank to the floor, not caring who might walk by.

"I missed you  _so_ bad," Richie mumbled into his hair.

"I missed you too. Thought about you every day." He let out a small sob. " _Every_ day."

Richie couldn't describe the feeling he felt right then. It was a mixture of happiness, relief, sadness and love. Just a lot of love.

"Jesus, Eds, we fell apart without you," he said. "Bill and Bev aren't together anymore."

Eddie pulled away slowly, sniffling,  studying Richie's face. "Why?"

"Well, Stan's gay now and-"

Eddie let out a sad laugh. 

Richie smiled and continued. "So turns out Bill's in love with Stanley _and_ Beverly, so..."

"I knew it!" he said. There were still tears falling down his cheeks.

Richie reached and swiped them off with his thumbs then spoke softly. "I know right, it looked like they were fucking each other with their eyes."

Eddie shook his head with a smile. He put his hand over where Richie was shot, then leaned forward, connecting their lips. It wasn't rushed at all, just and slow and sweet.

Richie broke it with a smile and a laugh. "My entire ass is out right now because of this gown."

Eddie laughed and stood up. He helped Richie stand, and hey hugged again.

"Rich, you've got blood all over you. Did you just rip out your iv?" Eddie said.

"Maybe."

"Of course you did," he said, chuckling. "We need to get you back to your room. You need to rest."

Richie was feeling tired, but he didn't want to leave Eddie. "I don't wanna." He gave kisses to Eddie's hair and rubbed his back, which made the shorter boy hum with content.

"You have to."

Richie groaned and pulled away, taking Eddie's hand in his own. He looked into his eyes affectionately. A small smile grew across his face. "God, I love you."

Eddie smiled back, looking beautiful. "I love you too."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!


	12. I Love You, More Than Anything

Richie was in the hospital for a week, Eddie never leaving his side. They talked to each other about everything that had happened. Richie watched Eddie as he spoke, mesmerized by something he almost lost. He wanted to cherish everything that they did together, even if it was a simple good morning or goodnight. They had both agreed that they were connected somehow. Whenever either had felt physical or emotional pain, the other felt it. Soulmates, Richie thought. He was confused. It sounded like something out of a book or movie. But Richie also thought it was kind of, really, amazing. To be soulmates with a person who you were totally in love with, before you knew they were your soulmate? That didn't really make sense, but Richie didn't know how exactly to put it. What the best thing was, was  _Eddie_. His soulmate was  _Eddie fucking Kaspbrak_. Literally the best person in the world. Like, what the fuck? How did _he,_ Richie Tozier, end up with  _that?_ He smiled to himself and kept listening to what Eddie was saying.

"-and so when she came back in I threw the plate at her," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You threw a fucking plate at your mom? Eddie Spaghetti! You're such a fuckin' badass!" he said in awe.

Eddie sighed, a smile creeping up on his face. "I thought I told you to-"

"-not call me that, Trashmouth!" Richie mimicked. "You know how much I love it!"

"I do not!" he said, starting to blush.

Richie sat up in the hospital bed. He brought his left hand up to set on his temple, then held the other out towards Eddie.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm reading your mind, like Professor X. And, yep, just as I said, you totally love the nicknames," he said, with a large smile. His eyebrows furrowed. He gasped. "Spaghetti Head! Who knew you could think such dirty thoughts! I am truly appalled, and a little turned on-"

"Beep beep, Dickhead! You're so gross," Eddie said, and slapped Richie's hand lightly.

Richie laughed and let his hands fall to his lap. He reached over to pat Eddie's head, like a dog, but he moved away. He reached again, leaning over the bed.

"Stop it, Fuckface," Eddie mumbled, swatting at Richie's hand.

He leaned over even farther, then felt a stinging in his arm. "Ouch!" he said, rubbing over the spot. He looked at Eddie who had a triumphant look on his face, pointer finger and thumb against his own arm.

Richie gasped again. "I felt that!" He pinched his own arm.

"Ow! Asshole!"

Richie felt another pinch, and he would've retaliated if Beverly and Ben didn't walk in.

Beverly gave a laugh. "You guys are five year olds." She and Ben sat in the chairs next to Eddie.

"Pssh," Richie said. "You're just jealous you don't have a soulmate." He looked over at Eddie who's eyebrows were furrowed.

Eddie reached over to Beverly and pinched her arm. 

"Ow! What the-"

"Ouch," Ben mumbled, rubbing his own arm.

Eddie looked back to Richie, eyes wide. Richie stared for a moment than broke out into laughter. He placed a hand on his stomach as he laughed.

Ben looked back and forth between his own arm and Beverly's, blushing.

Eddie started giggling as well, as Bev looked confused.

Mike, Stan and Bill walked in. "What's so funny?" Mike asked.

Richie was basically wheezing as he motioned for Bill to come over. "Come ere' Big Bill," he said, still letting out little giggles. "I have a feeling..."

Bill stepped forward and Richie pinched him.

Stan let out a small noise in the back of his throat as he rubbed his arm.

Eddie put his head in his hands, stifling laughter. Richie had tears escaping his eyes. "Why the fuck is this so funny," he mumbled.

Eddie shook his head and let out a cute little snort, but Richie was laughing too hard to say anything about it.

"Are you guys high or something?" Stan asked, clearly blushing.

"AHAHH, you fuckers are," wheeze, "Soulmates!" Richie said.

In response, Eddie shook with laughter, holding his stomach and leaning forward.

So, turns out, all of them had soulmates. Richie had never heard of this before, so guessed it was something between the seven of them. It hadn't started until Eddie went missing, and none of them could figure out why. Why was it just the seven of them? Why were they so important? Who was Mike's soulmate? All of these questions and more circled around their group, but they didn't have answers.

 

Richie was finally released from the hospital. Eddie's mother was sent to jail, leaving him without a home. The only actual family members that could take him in were his aunts, but he wouldn't leave everyone there in Derry. Richie had the bright idea of 'Hey Eds, why don't you just come live with me because why not?' Eddie didn't want to barge in, but his boyfriend assured him that his parents wouldn't care.

So that's exactly what he did. He went to Richie's house with him and stayed. It was the night they had come back from the hospital and Eddie didn't feel like getting whatever was left at his house because he was so tired. He would do it the next day.

They fell into bed, just lying there in silence. Eddie tucked his chin under Richie's head.

"Are you ready for game night tomorrow?" Richie asked softly.

Eddie yawned. "Do you mean, 'Am I ready to win game night tomorrow?' because yes. Yes I am."

Richie gave a chuckle. He wrapped his arms around Eddie, giving a kiss to his hair. "I'm never ever letting you go again," he whispered.

Eddie looked up at him, smiling softly. Their noses were touching. "Good," he said. "I won't let you."

Richie smiled a beautiful smile, then connected their lips softly.

Eddie placed his palm on Richie's freckled cheek. He was happy. He thought he had never been happier. Everything felt right, and it was. He smiled into the kiss, feeling Richie smile back. Eddie almost felt like crying again because, wow, out of all of the pain he had gone through, he had found even more love. 

They separated, Richie reached to shut off the lamp.

"Um," Eddie said. "Can you leave it on? It's just, she kept the light off a lot when I was-"

"Of course," Richie said. He smiled at Eddie and rested back down on the bed. He put his arms back around the small boy who let out a sigh of content.

"Hey, Rich?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything."

Richie paused. "You don't need to thank me for anything. I should be thanking you for just, like, being you."

"Well that's why I'm trying to thank you-"

"Thank you," Richie said, letting out a little giggle.

"Shut up," Eddie said. "Thank  _you_."

"No, thank  _you_."

Eddie pinched his arm.

Richie pinched back.

"I love you, more than anything," he said, smiling softly.

Richie tugged him closer. "I love you more than anything too."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I don't know how this became a soulmate au so fast, but whatever. I'm really happy that I finished this and that you guys enjoyed it too! I'll be posting more in the future so...yep. That's it.


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